^    )■   ' 


LINCOLN  ROOM 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
LIBRARY 


BEST  LINCOLN 
STORIES 

TERSELY  TOLD 


BY 


J.  E.  GALLAHER 


CHICAGO 

M.  A.  DONOHUE  &  CO. 


Copyright  1898 
By  J.  E.  GALLAGHER 


Made  in  U.  S.  A. 


373.  7^u 


> 


CONTENTS. 


^  Page. 

^     Preface 7 

^  Lincoln's  Great  Strength  as  a  Boy 9 

Was  Proud  of  His  Strength 9 

Lincoln  a  Powerful  Wrestler 10 

Lincoln  Split  400  Rails  for  a  Yard  of  Jeans 11 

Lincoln  as  a  Verse  Writer 12 

Lincoln's  Quick  Wit  in  Helping  a  Girl  to  Spell  a  Word 12 

»  Lincoln  as  a  Notion  Peddler 13 

Lincoln  Saved  from  Drowning 13 

Lincoln's  Youthful  Eloquence 15 

One  of  Lincoln's  Songs 17 

Lincoln's  First  Political  Speech 18 

How  Lincoln  Became  Known  as  "  Honest  Abe  " 19 

Lincoln  Was  an  "Obliging"  Man 19 

How  Lincoln  Paid  a  Large  Debt 20 

His  First  Sight  of  Slavery 21 

Lincoln  and  Jeff  Davis  in  the  Black  Hawk  War 22 

Lincoln's  Glowing  Tribute  to  His  Mother 22 

What  Lincoln's  Step-Mother  Said  of  Him 23 

Lincoln's  First  Love 23 

The  Duel  Lincoln  Didn't  Fight 25 

Lincoln  as  a  Dancer 26 

Lincoln's  Courtship  and  Marriage 27 

Lincoln's  Personal  Appearance 28 

Lincoln's  Mother    29 

Lincoln's  Melancholia 31 

Lincoln's  Height 32 

How  Lincoln  Became  a  Lawyer 33 

Lincoln  as  a  Lawyer 34 

Lincoln's  Conscientiousness  in  Taking  Cases 35 

The  Jury  Understood 35 

Lincoln's  Honesty  with  a  Lady  Client 36 

Lincoln  Wins  a  Celebrated  Case 37 


CONTENTS— Continued. 

Lincoln's  "Selfishness" 38 

Lincoln  Removes  a  License  on  Theaters 39 

How  Lincoln  Got  the  Worst  of  a  Horse  Trade 39 

Lincoln  Helped  Him  to  Win 40 

Lincoln  Settles  a  Quarrel  without  Going  to  Law 42 

A  Lincoln  Story  About  Little  Dan  Webster's  Soiled  Hands 44 

Lincoln's  Long  Limbs  Drive  a  Man  Out  of  His  Berth 44 

Lincoln's  Joke  on  Douglas 45 

Lincoln  Shrewdly  Traps  Douglas 47 

Lincoln's  Fairness  in  Debate 48 

Lincoln  Asks  His  Friend's  Help  for  the  United  States  Senate 60 

Making  Lincoln  Preseniable 62 

Evidence  of  Lincoln's  Religious  Belief 52 

Lincoln  a  Temperance  Man 63 

Lincoln's  Famous  Gettysburg  Address 64 

The  Gettysburg  Address 55 

Lincoln  as  a  Ruler 66 

Lincoln's  Real  Object  in  Conducting  the  War 57 

Lincoln  Asked  for  Some  of  Grant's  Whisky 58 

Lincoln  Believed  Himself  Ugly 59 

Lincoln's  Kindness  to  a  Disabled  Soldier 59 

A  Sample  of  Lincoln's  Statesmanship 60 

Two  Good  Stories 61 

Lincoln  Raises  a  Warning  Voice  Against  the  Concentration  of  Great 

Wealth 62 

Lincoln  and  the  Dying  Soldier  Boy 62 

The  Dandy,  the  Bugs  and  the  President 63 

Lincoln  Upheld  the  Hands  of  Gen.  Grant 64 

Why  Lincoln  Told  Stories 

Lincoln  Rewards  a  Man  for  Kindness  Thirty  Years  After  the  Occur-  65 

rence 66 

Lincoln  a  Merciful  Man 67 

Lincoln's  Humorous  Advice  to  a  Distinguished  Bachelor 68 

How  Lincoln  Answered  a  Delicate  Question 69 

Lincoln  Illustrates  a  Case  Humorously 70 

Why  Lincoln  Mistook  a  Driver  to  be  an  Episcopalian 71 

A  Clergyman  Who  Talks  But  Little 71 

How  Lincoln  Received  a  Jackknife  as  a  Present 72 

The  Best  Car  for  His  Corpse 73 

His  Title  Did  Not  Help  Any 73 


CONTENTS— Continued. 

One  of  Lincoln's  Autographs 74 

Lincoln's  Substitute 74 

Lincoln's  Estimate  of  the  Financial  Standing  of  a  Neighbor 75 

Lincoln's  Query  Puzzled  the  Man 75 

Lincoln's  Inauguration 76 

John  Sherman's  First  Meeting  with  Lincoln 77 

Lincoln  and  the  Sentinel 78 

Origin  of  "With  Malice  Toward  None, "  Etc 79 

His  Good  Memory  of  Names 79 

Lincoln's  Grief  Over  the  Defeat  of  the  Union  Army 80 

Three  Stories  of  Lincoln  by  Senator  Palmer 81 

His  Famous  Second  Inaugural  Address 83 

Lincoln  Said  Even  a  Rebel  Could  Be  Saved 84 

Washington  and  Lincoln  Compared 86 

Lincoln  Remembered  Him 87 

Why  Lincoln  Pardoned  Them 89 

The  Lincoln  Portraits 92 

Lincoln's  Faith  in  Providence 93 

Lincoln's  Last  Words 96 

A  Chicagoan  Who  Saw  Lincoln  Shot 97 

Martyred  Lincoln's  Blood 100 

A  Strange  Coincidence  in  the  Lives  of  Lincoln  and  His  Slayer 101 

Where  Is  the  Original  Emancipation  Proclamation 102 

Mr.  Griffiths  on  Lincoln 102 

A  Famous  Chicago  Lawyer's  Views 103 

Lincoln  W  as  Plain  But  Great 104 

Lincoln's  Specific  Life  Work 106 

The  Proposed  Purchase  of  the  Slaves 107 

Senator  Thurston's  Speech 108 

Lincoln  Analyzed 112 

The  Religion  of  the  Presidents 116 


PREFACE. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

How  American  history  would  dwindle  if  that  name  were 
taken  out  of  it!  Washington  was  great.  Grant  was  great.  Lee 
was  great.  Many  others  have  been  and  are  great  in  all  the 
walks  of  life.  But  Lincoln,  who  came  out  of  the  lowly  heart  of 
the  people,  will  come  back  nearer  that  heart  than  any  other  man 
probably  that  the  nation  has  known.  There  have  been  men 
of  war  and  there  have  been  men  of  peace,  but  there  has  been  no 
such  man  of  peace  in  war  as  Lincoln. 

Why  is  it  we  never  tire  of  thinking  of  Mr.  Lincoln  personally, 
nor  of  speaking  of  him  and  his  deeds?  Is  it  not  because  "he 
was  indeed  one  of  the  most  unique  figures  in  history,  and  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  surprises  of  the  age?''  What  has  he  been 
called  by  those  who  knew  him  best?  "The  greatest  of  patriots, 
the  wisest  of  rulers,  the  ablest  of  men. " 

What  led  to  his  greatness  and  caused  him  to  hold  such  an 
extraordinary  sway  over  the  people  during  the  most  tumultuous 
of  times,  when  seven  states  had  seceded  and  the  rebellion  was 
well  under  way  at  his  inauguration,  and  when  a  bloody  and 
fiercely  contested  war  was  fought  during  his  administration? 
I  will  let  one  more  competent  than  myself  answer.  Bishop 
Fowler  of  the  First  M.  E.  Church,  of  New  York,  said: 

"What,  then,  were  the  elements  of  Lincoln's  greatness? 
To  begin  with,  'he  was  not  made  out  of  any  fool  mud,'  and  then 
he  thoroughly  understood  himself  and  knew  how  to  handle  his 
resources.  His  moral  sense  was  the  first  important  trait  of  his 
character,  his  reason  the  second,  and  the  third  was  his  wonder- 
ful 'common  sense,'  the  most  imcommon  thing  found  even  among 
the  great. 

"These  are  the  three  fixed  points  on  which  his  character 
hung.  Without  the  first  he  had  been  a  villain.  Without  the 
second,  a  fool.  Without  the  third,  a  dreamer.  With  them  all 
he  made  up  himself — Abraham  Lincoln." 

7 


8  Preface 

It  is  wonderful  how  many  stories  President  Lincoln  told, 
and  still  more  wonderful  how  many  stories  are  told  of  him. 
The  late  Senator  Voorhees,  of  Indiana,  said  that  Lincoln  had 
more  stories  than  any  other  man  he  had  ever  met.  He  had  a 
story  for  every  occasion,  and  he  illustrated  everything  by  anec- 
dote. Some  of  the  best  stories  current  today,  originated  with 
Lincoln  and  hundreds  of  his  best  stories  have  never  been  pub- 
lished. Senator  Voorhees  had  preserved  a  number  which  he 
expected  to  use  in  lectures  which  he  was  preparing  at  the  time 
he  died.  He  had  hoped  to  live  long  enough  after  his  retirement 
from  public  life  to  write  a  book  on  his  personal  recollections 
of  the  martyred  President,  among  which  would  have  been  in- 
cluded many  stories. 

The  late  David  Davis,  of  Illinois,  before  whose  court.  Lincoln 
practiced  so  often,  once  said,  that  there  were  but  three  men  in 
the  world  who  thoroughly  understood  Abraham  Lincoln — 
himself,  Leonard  Sweet,  of  Chicago,  and  Daniel  W.  Voorhees. 
AH  these  three  men  are  dead. 

In  gathering  material  for  this  work  the  editor  has  exercised 
due  care  in  accepting  only  such  stories  as  bore  the  impress  of 
truth.  It  is  his  nope  that  this  Httle  volume  will  be  eagerly  wel- 
comed in  every  home  which  venerates  the  name  of  Abraham 
Lincoln,  and  that  it  will  be  an  inspiration  to  every  boy  of  the 
land  who,  in  looking  to  Lincoln  for  an  ideal,  should  ever  remem- 
ber that 

Honor  and  shame  from  no  condition  rise; 
Act  well  your  part;   there  all  the  honor  lies. 

J.  E.  GALLAHER. 


BEST  LINCOLN  STORIES 
TERSELY  TOLD. 

Lincoln's  Great  Strength  as  a  Boy. 

The  strength  Lincoln  displayed  when  he  was  ten 
years  old  is  remarkable.  At  that  age  he  was  almost 
constantly  using  an  axe  in  chopping  and  splitti^ig  wood 
and  he  used  it  with  great  skill,  sinking  it  deeper  into 
the  wood  than  any  other  person.  He  cut  the  elm  and 
linn  brush  used  for  feeding  the  stock,  drove  the  team, 
handled  the  old  shovel-plow,  wielded  the  sickle,  threshed 
wheat  with  a  flail,  fanned  and  cleaned  it  with  a  sheet 
and  performed  other  labor  that  few  men  of  today  could 
do  so  well.  He  wielded  the  axe  from  the  age  of  ten 
till  he  was  twenty-three.  As  he  grew  older  he  became 
one  of  the  strongest  and  most  popular  *' hands"  in  the 
vicinity  and  his  services  were  in  great  demand.  He 
was  employed  as  a  ''hand"  by  his  neighbors  at  25  cents 
a  day,  which  money  was  paid  to  his  father. 

Was  Proud  of  His  Strength. 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  a  remarkably  strong  man;  he  was 
strong  as  well  as  tall.  He  was  in  the  habit  of  measuring 
his  height  with  other  tall  men, — he  did  this  even  in 
the  White  House.  In  1859  he  visited  the  Wisconsin 
State  Fair  at  Milwaukee  and  was  led  around  by  the 

9 


1 0  Best  Lincoln  Stories 

then  Governor  Ho}^.  They  entered  a  tent  where  a 
"strong  man"  was  performing  with  hugh  iron  balls. 
His  feats  amazed  and  interested  Lincoln.  The  gover- 
nor told  him  to  go  up  on  the  platform  and  be  introduced 
to  the  athlete,  by  whose  exhibition  of  skill  he  was  so 
fascinated.  He  did  so,  and  after  the  formal  intro- 
duction he  remarked  to  the  ''strong  "man"  who  was 
short  of  stature:  ''Why,  I  could  lick  salt  off  the  top 
of  your  hat. 

Lincoln  a  Powerful  Wrestler. 

While  a  clerk  in  a  general  store  at  New  Salem,  111., 
Lincoln  gained  the  reputation  of  being  a  skillful  and 
powerful  wrestler.  Near  New  Salem  was  a  settlement 
known  as  Clary 's  Grove,  in  which  lived  an  organization 
known  as  "  Clary 's  Grove  Boys. "  They  were  rude  in 
their  manners  and  rough  and  boastful  in  their  ways, 
being  what  would  today  be  called  a  "set  of  rowdies." 

The  leaders  of  this  organization,  and  the  strongest 
of  the  lot,  was  a  yoimg  man  named  Armstrong.  It 
had  been  said  that  Lincoln  could  easily  outdo  any  one 
of  the  Clary  Grove  boys  in  anything  and  the  report 
naturally  touched  the  pride  of  the  Armstrong  youth. 
He  felt  compelled  to  prove  the  truth  or  falsity  of  such 
a  story,  and  accordingly  a  wrestling  match  was  arranged 
between  Lincoln  and  himself. 

It  was  a  great  day  in  the  village  of  New  Salem  and 
Clary's  Grove.  The  match  was  held  on  the  groimd 
in  front  of  the  store  in  which  Lincoln  had  been  clerking. 


Tersely  Told.  11 

There  was  much  betting  on  the  result,  the  odds  being 
against  Lincoln.  Hardly,  however,  had  the  two 
wrestlers  taken  hold  of  each  other  before  the  Armstrong 
youth  found  that  he  had  *'met  a  foe  worthy  his  steel. " 
The  two  wrestled  long  and  hard,  each  doing  his  utmost 
to  throw  the  other  but  to  no  avail.  Both  kept  their 
feet;  neither  could  throw  the  other.  The  Armstrong 
youth  being  convinced  that  he  could  not  throw  Lincoln, 
tried  a  *' foul. "  This  resort  to  dishonest  means  to  gain 
an  advantage  inflamed  Lincoln  vv^th  indignation,  and 
he  immediately  caught  young  Armstrong  by  the  throat, 
held  him  at  arm 's  length,  and  "shook  him  like  a  child. ' ' 
Armstrong's  friends  rushed  to  his  rescue,  and  for 
a  time  it  seemed  as  if  Lincoln  would  be  mobbed.  But 
he  held  his  own  bravely  and  all  alone,  and  by  his  daring 
excited  the  admiration  of  even  those  whose  sympathies 
were  with  yoimg  Armstrong.  What  at  one  time  seemed 
to  result  in  a  general  fight  resulted  in  a  general  hand- 
shake, even  ''Jack"  Armstrong  declaring  that  Lincoln 
was  ''the  best  fellow  who  ever  broke  into  camp." 

Lincoln  Split  400  Rails  for  a  Yard  of  Brown  Jeans. 

When  Lincoln  lived  in  Illinois  (New  Salem)  he  wore 
trousers  made  of  flax  and  tow  cut  tight  at  the  ankles 
and  out  at  both  knees.  Though  a  very  poor  yoimg 
man  he  was  imiversally  welcomed  in  every  house  of  the 
neighborhood.  Money  was  so  scarce  in  those  days 
that  it  is  known  that  Lincoln  once  split  400  rails  for 
every  yard  of  brown  jeans,  dyed  with  white  walnut 
bark,  that  would  be  necessary  to  make  him  a  pair  of 
trousers. 


12  Best  Lincoln  Stones 

Lincoln  as  a  Verse  Writer. 

Even  when  he  was  a  boy  Lincoln  was  sometimes 
called  upon  to  write  poetry.  The  following  are  among 
his  earliest  attempts  at  rhyme: 

Good  boys  who  to  their  books  apply, 
Will  all  be  great  men  by  and  by. 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  Lincoln  himself  carried 
out  what  he  wrote  so  well;  in  other  words,  he  *' prac- 
ticed what  he  preached. "  It  was  in  a  great  measure 
owing  to  his  constant  application  to  his  books  that  he 
afterward  became  a  great  man. 

The  following  poem  Mr  Lincoln  wrote  in  1844 
while  on  a  visit  to  the  home  of  his  childhood; 

My  childhood's  home  I  see  again 

And  sadden  with  the  view; 
And,  still,  as  memory  crowds  my  brain, 

There's  pleasure  in  it,  too. 
Oh,  memory,  thou  midway  world 

'Twixt  earth  and  paradise, 
Where  things  decayed  and  loved  ones  lost 

In  dreamy  shadows  rise; 
And,  freed  from  all  that's  earthy  vile. 

Seems  hallowed,  pure  and  bright, 
Like  scenes  in  some  enchanted  isle. 

All  bathed  in  liquid  light. 

Lincohi's  Quick  Wit  in  Helping  a  Girl  to  Spell  a  Word. 

"Abe"  Lincoln  was  always  ready  and  willing  to 
help  any  one.  Once  he  was  in  a  spelHng  match  at 
school  when  the  word  "defied"  had  been  given  out  by 
the  teacher.    It  had  been  misspelled  several  times 


Tersely  Told.  13 

when  it  came  the  turn  of  a  girl  friend  of  Lincoln's  to 
spell.  The  pupils  were  arranged  on  opposite  sides  of 
the  room  and  *'Abe"  was  watching  his  freind  as  she 
struggled  with  the  spelling.  She  began  d-e-f,  and 
stopped,  being  unable  to  decide  whether  to  proceed 
with  an  i  or  a  y.  Happening  to  look  up,  she  caught 
sight  of  Abe,  who  was  grinning.  He  pointed  with  his 
index  finger  to  his  eye.  The  hint  was  quickly  under- 
stood, the  word  was  spelled  with  an  i  and  it  went 
through  all  right. 

Lincoln  as  a  Notion  Peddler. 

In  March,  1830,  the  Lincoln  family  moved  from 
Gentryville,  Indiana,  to  near  Decatur,  IlHnois,  their 
household  goods  being  packed  in  a  wagon  drawn  by 
four  oxen  driven  by  *'Abe. '*  The  winter  previous 
Lincoln  had  worked  in  a  country  store  in  Gentryville 
and  before  imdertaking  the  journey  he  invested  all  the 
money  he  had,  some  thirty  dollars,  in  notions,  such  as 
needles,  pins,  thread,  buttons  and  other  domestic 
necessities.  These  he  sold  to  families  along  the  route 
and  made  a  profit  of  about  one  himdred  per  cent.  This 
shows  he  had  a  mind  for  seizing  hold  of  opportunities 
for  making  money  even  when  young. 

Lincoln  Saved  from  Drowning. 

The  life  of  Lincoln  during  the  time  the  family  lived 
in  Kentucky  appears  to  have  been  entirely  tmeventful. 
He  helped  his  mother — after  he  was  three  years  old — 


14  Best  Lincoln  Stories 

in  the  simple  household  duties,  went  to  the  district 
school,  and  played  with  the  children  of  the  neighbor- 
hood. The  only  one  of  young  Lincoln's  playmates 
now  living  is  an  old  man  nearly  100  years  old  named 
Austin  Gollaher,  whose  mind  is  bright  and  clear,  and 
who  never  tires  of  telling  of  the  days  Lincoln  and  he 
*' were  little  tikes  and  played  together. "  This  old  man, 
who  yet  lives  in  the  log  house  in  which  he  has  always 
lived,  a  few  miles  from  the  old  Lincoln  place,  tells 
entertaining  stories  about  the  President's  boyhood. 

Mr.  Gollaher  says  that  they  were  together  more  than 
the  other  boys  in  school,  that  he  became  fond  of  his 
Httle  friend,  and  he  believed  that  Abe  thought  a  great 
deal  of  him. 

In  speaking  of  various  events  of  minor  importance 
in  their  boyhood  days  Mr.  Gollaher  remarked:  "I 
once  saved  Lincoln 's  life.  '*  Upon  being  urged  to  tell 
of  the  occurrence  he  thus  related  it:  *'We  had  been 
going  to  school  together  one  year  but  the  next  year  we 
had  no  school,  because  there  were  so  few  scholars  to 
attend,  there  being  only  about  twenty  in  the  school  the 
year  before. 

** Consequently  Abe  and  I  had  not  much  to  do; 
but,  as  we  did  not  go  to  school  and  our  mothers  were 
strict  with  us,  we  did  not  get  to  see  each  other  very 
often.  One  Sunday  morning  my  mother  waked  me 
up  early,  saying  she  was  going  to  see  Mrs.  Lincoln,  and 
that  I  could  go  along.  Glad  of  the  chance,  I  was  soon 
dressed  and  ready  to  go.  After  my  mother  and  I  got 
there  Abe  and  I  played  all  through  the  day. 


Tersely  Told,  15 

*' While  we  were  wandering  up  and  down  the  little 
stream  called  Knob  Creek,  Abe  said:  'Right  up  there' 
— pointing  to  the  east — 'we  saw  a  covey  of  partridges 
yesterday.  Let's  go  over  and  get  some  of  them.'  The 
stream  was  swollen  and  was  too  wide  for  us  to  jump 
across.  Finally  we  saw  a  narrow  foot-log,  and  we 
concluded  to  try  it.  It  was  narrow,  but  Abe  said, 
'Let's  coon  it.' 

'*I  went  first  and  reached  the  other  side  all  right. 
Abe  went  about  half-way  across,  when  he  got  scared 
and  began  trembling.  I  hollered  to  him,  'Don't  look 
down  nor  up  nor  sideways,  but  look  right  at  me  and 
hold  on  tight!'  But  he  fell  off  into  the  creek,  and,  as 
the  water  was  about  seven  or  eight  feet  deep  and  I  could 
not  swim,  and  neither  could  Abe,  I  knew  it  would  do 
no  good  for  me  to  go  in  after  him. 

"  So  I  got  a  stick — a  long  water  sprout — and  held  it 
out  to  him.  He  came  up,  grabbing  with  both  hands, 
and  I  put  the  stick  into  his  hands.  He  clung  to  it,  and 
I  pulled  him  out  on  the  bank,  almost  dead.  I  got  him 
by  the  arms  and  shook  him  well,  and  then  rolled  him 
on  the  ground,  when  the  water  poured  out  of  his  mouth. 

"He  was  all  right  very  soon.  We  promised  each 
other  that  we  would  never  tell  anybody  about  it,  and 
never  did  for  years.  I  never  told  any  one  of  it  until 
after  Lincoln  was  killed. " 


Lincoln's  Youthful  Eloquence. 

One  man  in  Gentryville,  Ind.,  a  Mr.  Jones,  the 
storekeeper,  took  a  Louisville  paper,  and  here  Lincoln 


16  Best  Lincoln  Stones 

went  regularly  to  read  and  discuss  its  contents.  All 
the  men  and  boys  of  the  neighborhood  gathered  there, 
and  everything  which  the  paper  related  was  subjected 
to  their  keen,  shrewd  common  sense.  It  was  not  long 
before  young  Lincoln  became  the  favorite  member  of 
the  group  and  the  one  listened  to  most  eagerly.  Politics 
was  warmly  discussed  by  these  Gentryville  citizens,  and 
it  may  be  that  sitting  on  the  counter  of  Jones'  grocery 
Lincoln  even  discussed  slavery.  It  certainly  was  one 
of  the  live  questions  of  Indiana  at  that  date. 

Yoimg  Lincoln  was  not  only  T;^anning  in  those  days 
in  the  Jones  grocery  store  a  reputation  as  a  debater  and 
story  teller,  but  he  was  becoming  known  as  a  kind  of 
bacia\"Oods  orator.     He  could  repeat  with  effect  all  the 
poems  and  speeches  in  his  various  school  readers,  he 
could  imitate  to  perfection  the  wandering  preachers  who 
came  to  Gentryville,  and  he  could  make  a  poHtical 
speech  so  stirring  that  he  drew  a  crowd  about  him  every 
time  he  mounted  a  stimip.    The  applause  he  won  was 
sweet,  and  frequently  he  indulged  his  gifts  when  he 
ought  to  have  been  at  work — so  thought  his  employers 
and  Thomas,  his  father.      It  was  trying,  no  doubt,  to 
the  hard  pushed  farmers  to  see  the  men  vrho  ought  to  i 
have  been  cutting  grass  or  chopping  wood  throw  down 
their  sickles  or  axes  to  group  around  a  boy  whenever; 
he  mounted  a  stump  to  develop  a  pet  theory  or  repeat! 
with  variations  yesterday's  sermon.     In  his  fondriessj 
for  speechmaking  he  attended  all  the  trials  of  the 
neighborhood  and  frequently  walked  fifteen  miles  to 
Boone ville  to  attend  court. 


Tersely  Told.  17 

One  of  Lincoln's  Songs. 

As  will  be  learned  elsewhere  in  this  book  Annie 
Rutledge  was  Lincoln's  first  love.  Mrs.  William 
Prewitt,  of  Fairfield,  Iowa,  is  a  sister  of  Annie  Rutledge. 
She  is  a  widow  in  comfortable  circumstances  and  lives 
with  one  of  her  sons.  This  is  what  she  says  of  her  dead 
sister  and  Lincoln: 

**Her  death  made  a  great  impression  upon  him,  I 
could  see.  We  never  knew  him  to  jolly  or  laugh  after- 
ward. Annie  was  next  to  the  oldest  girl  in  our  family, 
and  she  had  a  great  deal  of  the  housework  to  do.  I 
remember  seeing  her  washing  in  the  old-fashioned  way. 
She  would  sweep  and  bake,  and  was  a  good  cook  and 
took  pride  in  her  housework.  She  and  Abe  were  very 
jolly  together,  sometimes.  They  used  to  sing  together. 
There  was  one  song  I  didn't  Hke  to  hear,  and  he  would 
sing  it  to  tease  me.  He  would  tip  back  his  chair  and 
roar  it  out  at  the  top  of  his  voice,  over  and  over  again, 
just  for  fun.  I  have  the  book  they  used  to  sing  out  of 
yet,  with  that  song  in  it. " 

The  book  is  an  old-fashioned  "Missouri  Harmony, " 

and  the  song  is  as  follows ; 

When  in  death  I  shall  calmly  recline, 

O,  bear  my  heart  to  my  mistress  dear; 
Tell  her  it  lived  on  smiles  and  wine 

Of  brightest  hue  while  it  lingered  here; 
Bid  her  not  shed  one  tear  of  sorrow 

To  sully  a  heart  so  brilHant  and  bright, 
But  heahng  drops  of  the  red  grape  borrow 
To  bathe  the  reHc  from  mom  till  night. 
When  informed  that  the  song  was  a  queer  one  to 
sing  for  fun,  Mrs.  Prewitt  replied  that  "it  is  a  queer 
song,  anyhow. " 


1 8  Best  Lincoln  Stories 

Lincoln's  First  Political  Speech. 

A  citizen  of  Buffalo  has  found  among  his  papers 
an  account  of  the  circumstances  under  which  Abraham 
Lincoln  made  his  maiden  speech.  It  was  originally 
printed  in  the  Springfield  (111.)  Republican,  and  is  as 
follows : 

"The  President  of  the  United  States  made  his 
maiden  speech  in  Sangamon  County,  at  Pappsville 
(or  Richland),  in  the  year  1832.  He  was  then  a  Whig 
and  a  candidate  for  the  Legislature  of  this  State.  The 
speech  is  sharp  and  sensible.  To  understand  why  it 
was  so  short  the  following  facts  wiU  show:  1.  Mr. 
Lincoln  was  a  young  man  of  23  3^ears  of  age  and  timid. 
2.  His  friends  and  opponents  in  the  joint  discussion 
had  rolled  the  sun  nearly  down.  Lincoln  saw  it  was 
not  the  proper  time  then  to  discuss  the  question  fully, 
and  hence  he  cut  his  remarks  short.  Probably  the 
other  candidates  had  exhausted  the  subjects  under  dis- 
cussion. The  time,  according  to  W.  H.  Hemdon's 
informant — who  has  kindly  furnished  this  valuable 
reminiscence  for  us — was  1832;  it  may  have  been  1831. 
The  President  lived  at  the  time  with  James  A.  Hemdon, 
at  Salem,  Sangamon  County,  who  heard  the  speech, 
talked  about  it,  and  knows  the  report  to  be  correct. 
The  speech  which  was  characteristic  of  the  man,  was 
as  follows: 

*'  'Gentlemen,  Fellow-Citizens:  I  presume  you  all 
know  who  I  am.  I  am  humble  Abraham  Lincoln.  I 
have  been  solicited  by  my  friends  to  become  a  candidate 
for  the  Legislature.    My  politics  are  short  and  sweet. 


Tersely  Told.  19 

like  an  ''old  woman's  dance."  I  am  in  favor  of  a 
national  bank.  I  am  in  favor  of  the  international 
improvement  system  and  a  high  protective  tariff. 
These  are  my  sentiments  and  political  principles.  If 
elected,  I  will  be  thankful.  If  defeated,  it  will  be  all 
the  same.'  " 

How  Lincoln  Became  Known  as  "Honest  Abe.'* 

As  a  grocery  clerk  at  New  Salem,  Lincoln  was 
scrupulously  honest.  This  trait  of  his  soon  became 
known,  but  the  two  following  incidents  are  particularly 
responsible  for  the  appellation  of  *'  Honest  Abe, "  given 
him  and  by  which  he  has  been  so  familiarly  known. 
He  once  took  six  and  a  quarter  cents  too  much  from  a 
customer.  He  did  not  say  to  himself,  ''never  mind 
such  little  things, "  but  walked  three  miles  that  evening, 
after  closing  his  store,  to  return  the  money.  On  an- 
other occasion,  he  weighed  out  a  half-pound  of  tea,  as  he 
•supposed,  it  being  night  when  he  did  so,  and  that  having 
been  the  last  thing  he  sold  in  the  store  before  going 
home.  On  entering  in  the  morning  he  discovered  a 
four-ounce  weight  on  the  scales.  He  saw  his  mistake, 
and  shutting  up  shop,  hurried  off  to  deliver  the  remain- 
der of  the  tea.  These  acts  of  his,  as  well  as  his  thorough 
honesty  in  other  respects,  soon  gained  for  him  the  now 
famous  title  of  ''Honest  Abe. " 

Lincoln  Was  an  "Obliging"  Man. 

Lincoln  was  always  ready  to  help  any  man,  woman, 
child  or  animal.     He  was  naturally  kindhearted,  and 


20  Best  Lincoln  Stones 

''possessed  in  an  extraordinary  degree  the  power  of 
entering  into  the  interests  of  others,  a  power  found  only 
in  reflective,  unselfish  natures.  '*  He  loved  his  friends 
and  sympathized  with  them  in  their  troubles.  He  was 
anxious  always  to  do  his  share  in  making  their  labor 
day  after  day,  as  light  as  possible. 

Thus  we  are  told  by  his  neighbors  (biography  by 
Mr.  Hemdon  and  others)  that  he  cared  for  the  children 
while  on  a  visit  to  a  friend's  house;  gave  up  his  own 
bed  in  the  tavern  where  he  was  boarding  when  the 
house  was  full,  and  slept  on  the  counter;  helped  farmers 
pull  out  the  wheel  of  their  wagon  when  it  got  stuck  in 
the  mud;  chopped  wood  for  the  widows;  rocked  the 
cradle  while  the  woman  of  the  house  where  he  was 
staying  was  busy  getting  the  meal,  and  otherwise  made 
himself  useful.  No  wonder  there  was  not  a  housewife 
in  all  New  Salem  who  would  not  gladly  ''put  on  a  plate  " 
for  Abe  Lincoln,  or  who  would  not  dam  or  mend  for 
him  whenever  he  needed  such  services.  It  was  the 
''spontaneous,  unobtrusive  helpfulness  of  the  man's 
nature  which  endeared  him  to  everybody." 


How  Lincoln  Paid  a  Large  Debt. 

Mr.  Lincoln  went  into  partnership  in  the  grocery 
business  in  New  Salem,  111.,  with  a  man  named  Berry. 
This  man  Berry  mismanaged  the  business  while  Lin- 
coln was  away  surveying.  Eventually  he  died,  leaving 
Lincoln  to  pay  a  debt  of  eleven  hundred  dollars  con- 
tracted by  the  firm.  In  those  days  it  was  the  fashion 
for  business  men  who  had  failed  to  "clear  out,"  that 


Tersely  Told.  21 

is,  skip  the  town  and  settle  elsewhere.  Not  so  with 
"Abe."  He  quietly  settled  down  among  the  men  he 
owed  and  promised  to  pay  them.  He  asked  only  time. 
For  several  years  he  worked  to  pay  off  this  debt,  a  load 
which  he  cheerfully  and  manfully  bore.  He  habitually 
spoke  of  it  to  his  friends  as  the  *' national  debt, "  it  was 
so  heavy.  As  late  as  1848,  when  he  was  a  member  of 
Congress,  he  sent  home  a  part  of  his  salary  to  be  ap- 
plied on  these  obligations.  All  the  notes,  with  the  high 
interest  rates  then  prevaiHng,  were  finally  paid. 


His  First  Sight  of  Slavery. 

In  May,  1831,  Lincoln  and  a  few  companions  went 
to  New  Orleans  on  a  flat-boat  and  remained  there  a 
month.  It  was  there  that  he  witnessed  for  the  first 
time,  negro  men  and  women  sold  Hke  animals.  The 
poor  beings  were  chained,  whipped  and  scourged. 
''Against  this  inhumanity  his  sense  of  right  and  justice 
rebelled,  and  his  mind  and  conscience  were  awakened  to 
a  realization  of  what  he  had  often  heard  and  read,** 
writes  one  of  his  biographers,  Ida  M.  Tarbell.  One 
morning,  in  his  rambles  with  his  friends  over  the  city, 
he  passed  a  slave  auction.  A  comely  mulatto  girl  of 
vigorous  physique  was  being  sold.  She  underwent  a 
thorough  examination  at  the  hands  of  the  bidders; 
they  pinched  her  flesh,  and  made  her  trot  up  and  down 
the  room  like  a  horse  to  show  how  she  moved,  and  in 
order,  as  the  auctioneer  said,  that  *' bidders  might 
satisfy  themselves"  whether  the  article  they  were 
oflering  to  buy  was  sound  or  not.     *'The  whole  thing 


22  Best  Lincoln  Stories     • 

was  so  revolting  that  Lincoln  moved  away  from  the 
scene  with  a  deep  feeling  of  imconquerable  hate. "  He 
remarked  to  his  companions:  *'It  I  ever  get  a  chance 
to  hit  that  thing  (slavery)  I  '11  hit  it  hard. " 

Lincoln  and  Davis  in  the  Black  Hawk  War. 

Abraham  Lincoln  had  a  very  brief  experience  with 
actual  warfare.  He  enlisted  with  a  company  of  vol- 
unteers to  take  part  in  the  Black  Hawk  war.  It  was 
the  custom  in  those  days  for  each  company  to  elect  its 
own  Captain,  and  Lincoln  was  chosen  Captain  of  his 
company  almost  unanimously.  He  was  heard  to  say 
many  times  in  after  life  that  no  other  success  in  his  life 
had  given  him  such  pleasure  as  did  this  one.  His 
command  did  little,  as  they  were  never  engaged  in  a 
pitched  battle,  so  Lincoln  had  to  be  content  ''with  the 
reputation  of  being  the  best  comrade  and  story-teller 
in  the  camp."  It  is  a  peculiar  coincidence  that  Jef- 
ferson Davis  also  served  as  an  officer  in  this  war. 

Lincoln's  Glowing  Tribute  to  His  Mother. 

These  famous  words  originated  with  the  good  and 
lowly  Abraham  Lincoln: 

''All  that  I  am,  or  hope  to  be,  I  owe  to  my  angel 
mother. " 

His  affection  for  his  mother  was  very  strong,  and 
long  after  her  death  he  would  speak  of  her  affectionately 
and  tearfully.  She  was  a  woman  five  feet,  five  inches 
in  height,  slender  of  figure,  pale  of  complexion,  sad  of 
expression,  and  of  a  sensitive  nature.  Of  a  heroic  na- 
ture, she  yet  shrank  from  the  rude  life  around  her. 


Tersely  Told.  23 

About  two  years  after  her  removal  from  Kentucky  to 
Indiana,  she  died.  *'Abe"  was  then  ten  years  old. 
She  was  buried  under  a  tree  near  the  cabin  home,  where 
little  *'Abe"  would  often  betake  himself  and,  sitting 
on  her  lonely  grave,  weep  over  his  irreparable  loss. 

Lincoln's  mother  was  buried  in  a  green  pine  box 
made  by  his  father.  Although  a  boy  of  ten  years  at 
that  time,  it  was  through  his  efforts  that  a  parson  came 
all  the  way  from  Kentucky  to  Indiana  three  months 
later  to  preach  the  sermon  and  conduct  the  service. 
The  child  could  not  rest  in  peace  till  due  honor  had  been 
done  his  dead  mother. 

What  Lincoln's  Step-Mother  Said  of  Him. 

**Abe  was  a  good  boy,  and  I  can  say  what  scarcely 
one  woman — a  mother — can  say  in  a  thousand:  Abe 
never  gave  me  a  cross  word  or  look,  and  never  refused 
in  fact  or  appearance,  to  do  anything  I  requested  him, 

I  never  gave  him  a  cross  word  in  all  my  life 

His  mind  and  mine — what  little  I  had — seemed  to  run 
together.  He  was  here  after  he  was  elected  President. 
He  was  a  dutiful  son  to  me,  always.  I  think  he  loved 
me  truly.  I  had  a  son,  John,  who  was  raised  with  Abe, 
Both  were  good  boys;  but  I  must  say,  both  now  being 
dead,  that  Abe  was  the  best  boy  I  ever  saw,  or  expect 
to  see." — Ida  M.  Tarbell. 

Lincoln's  First  Love. 

Lincoln's  first  love  was  Anna  Rutledge,  of  New 
Salem,  whose  father  was  keeper  of  the  Rutledge  tavern 


24  Best  Lincoln  Stories 

where  "Abe"  boarded.  The  girl  had  been  engaged  to 
a  young  man  named  John  McNeill,  whom,  we  are  in- 
formed, the  village  commimity  pronounced  an  adven- 
turer and  a  man  unworthy  the  girl's  love.  He  left  for 
the  East,  promising,  however,  to  return  within  a  year 
and  claim  her  as  his  wife,  so  the  story  reads.  Accord- 
ing to  Mrs.  WiUiam  Prewitt,  a  sister  of  Anna  Rutledge, 
who  is  at  present  (1898)  H\'ing,  the  engagement  was 
broken  off  before  McNeill  went  away,  so  that  she  was 
free  to  receive  the  attentions  of  ''Abe"  Lincoln.  She 
finally  promised  to  become  his  wife  in  the  spring  of 
1835,  soon  after  his  return  from  Vandalia.  But  unfortu- 
nately, circumstances  did  not  permit  of  a  marriage 
then,  Lincoln  being  barely  able  to  support  himself,  not 
yet  having  been  a(£nitted  to  the  bar,  and  the  girl,  being 
but  seventeen  years  old.  It  was  agreed  that  she  should 
attend  an  academy  at  Jacksonville,  111.,  and  Lincoln 
would  devote  himself  to  his  law  studies  till  the  next 
spring,  when  he  would  be  admitted  to  the  bar,  and  then 
they  would  be  married. 

New  Salem  was  deeply  interested  in  the  yoimg 
lovers  and  prophesied  a  happy  life  for  them;  but  fate 
willed  it  otherwise.  Anna  Rutledge  became  seriously 
ill,  with  an  attack  of  brain  fever,  and  when  it  was  seen 
that  her  recovery  was  impossible,  Lincoln,  her  lover  was 
sent  for.  They  ''  passed  an  hour  alone  in  an  anguished 
parting,"  and  soon  after  (August  25,  1835),  Anna  died. 

The  death  of  his  sweetheart  was  a  terrible  blow  to 
Lincoln.  His  melancholy  increased  and  darkened  his 
mind  and  his  imagination,  and  tortured  him  with 
its  black  picture.     One  stormy  night  he  was  sitting 


Tersely  Told.  25 

beside  a  friend  of  his,  with  his  head  bowed  on  his  hand, 
while  tears  trickled  through  his  fingers.  His  friend 
begged  him  to  try  to  control  his  sorrow;  to  try  to  forget 
it.  Lincoln  replied:  "I  cannot;  the  thought  of  the 
snow  and  rain  on  Ann's  grave  fills  me  with  indescribable 
grief. "  For  many  days  Lincoln  journeyed  on  foot  to 
the  cemetery  where  Anna  Rutledge  lay  buried,  and  there 
alone,  in  the  ''city  of  the  dead, "  wept  for  the  girl  whom 
he  had  loved  so  well.  Many  years  afterward,  when  he 
had  married  and  become  great,  he  said  to  a  friend  who 
questioned  him:  "I  really  and  truly  loved  the  girl 
and  think  often  of  her  now. "  After  a  pause  he  added: 
'*  And  I  have  loved  the  name  of  Rutledge  to  this  day. " 


The  Duel  Lincohi  Didn*t  Fight. 

President  Abraham^Lincoln  and  General  Joe  Shields, 
who  married  sisters,  once  arranged  to  fight  a  duel  at 
Alton,  111.  It  is  remembered  yet  by  the  old  settlers. 
Shields  had  offended  a  young  lady  at  Springfield,  and 
she  got  even  by  sending  an  article  about  it  to  a  Spring- 
field paper,  signing  a  nom  de  plume.  The  next  day 
General  Shields  called  upon  the  editor  and  gave  him 
24  hours  during  which  to  divulge  the  name  of  the 
author  or  to  take  the  consequences.  The  editor,  who 
was  a  friend  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  called  upon  him  and 
asked  him  what  to  do.  Not  thinking  it  was  a  very 
serious  affair,  Lincoln  promptly  said,  "Tell  him  that  I 
wrote  it."  The  editor  did  so,  and  General  Shields 
challenged  Lincoln  to  a  duel,  the  latter  accepting  and 
choosing  broadswords  as  the  weapons  and  an  island 


26  Best  Lincoln  Stories 

opposite  Alton  as  the  place.  The  principals  and 
seconds  went  to  the  place  appointed,  when  a  chance 
remark  of  Lincoln  that  he  hated  to  have  to  kill  Shields 
because  he  caused  him  to  beHeve  that  he  wrote  the 
article  in  order  to  protect  a  lady,  brought  about  a  recon- 
ciliation, and  the  duel  failed  to  come  off.  Hundreds  of 
people  were  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  and  to  carry  out 
a  joke  a  log  was  dressed  up,  placed  in  a  skiff,  the  occu- 
pants fanning  it  with  their  hats  as  though  it  was  an 
injured  man,  and  the  excitement  was  intense.  It 
always  remained  a  sore  spot  with  Lincoln,  and  but 
little  was  ever  said  about  it. 


Lincoln  as  a  Dancer. 

Lincoln  made  his  first  appearance  in  society,  when 
he  was  first  sent  to  Springfield,  111.,  as  a  member  of  the 
state  legislature.  It  was  not  an  imposing  figure  which 
he  cut  in  a  ballroom,  but  still  he  was  occasionally  to  be 
found  there.  Miss  Mary  Todd,  who  afterward  became 
his  wife,  was  the  magnet  which  drew  the  tall,  awkward 
young  man  from  his  den.  One  evening  Lincoln  ap- 
proached Miss  Todd  and  said,  in  his  peculiar  idiom: 

*'Miss  Todd,  I  should  like  to  dance  with  you  the 
worst  way. " 

The  young  woman  accepted  the  inevitable  and 
hobbled  around  the  room  with  him.  When  she  re- 
turned to  her  seat,  one  of  her  companions  asked  mis- 
chievously: ''Well  Mary,  did  he  dance  with  you  the 
worst  way?" 

*' Yes, "  she  answered,  *Hhe  very  worst. " 


Tersely  Told.  27 

Lincoln*s  Courtship  and  Marriage. 

In  1839,  Miss  Mary  Todd,  of  Kentucky,  arrived 
in  Springfield  to  visit  a  married  sister,  Mrs.  Edwards. 
At  the  instance  of  his  friend  Speed,  who  was  also  a 
Kentuckian,  Lincoln  became  a  visitor  at  the  Edwards, 
and  before  long  it  was  apparent  to  the  dbservant  among 
those  in  Springfield  that  the  lively  young  lady  held  him 
captive.  Engagements  at  that  time  and  in  that  neigh- 
borhood were  not  announced  as  soon  as  they  were  made, 
and  it  is  not  at  all  impossible  that  Miss  Todd  and  Mr. 
Lincoln  were  betrothed  many  months  before  any  other 
than  Mrs.  Edwards  and  Mr.  Speed  knew  of  it. 

At  this  time,  as  was  the  case  till  Lincoln  was  elected 
to  the  presidency,  his  one  special  rival  in  Illinois  was 
Stephen  A.  Douglas.  Mr.  Douglas  had  more  of  the 
social  graces  than  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  it  appeared  to  him 
that  nothing  would  be  more  interesting  than  to  cut  out 
his  poHtical  rival  in  the  affections  of  the  entertaining 
and  lively  Miss  Todd,  and  so  he  paid  her  court. 

A  spirited  young  lady  from  Kentucky,  at  that  time, 
in  Illinois,  would  have  been  almost  less  than  human  if 
she  had  refused  to  accept  the  attentions  of  the  two 
leading  men  of  the  locaHty.  Therefore,  Miss  Todd, 
being  quite  human,  encouraged  Douglas,  and  again 
there  was  what  novv^adays  would  have  been  called  a 
flirtation.  This  course  of  action  did  not  spur  Lincoln 
on  in  his  devotion,  but  made  him  less  ardent,  and  he 
concluded,  after  much  self  worriment,  to  break  off  the 
engagement,  v/hich  he  did,  but  at  the  same  interview 
there  was  a  reconciliation  and  a  renewal  of  engagement. 


28  Best  Lincoln  Stories 

Lincoln's  marriage  to  Mary  Todd  occurred  !n 
Springfield,  111.,  at  the  home  of  Mr.  M.  W.  Edwards, 
where  Miss  Todd  lived.  She  was  the  belle  of  Spring- 
field. The  marriage,  although  hastily  arranged  in  the 
end,  was  perhaps  the  first  one  performed  in  thaftity 
with  all  the  requirements  of  the  Episcopal  ceremony. 
Rev.  Charles  Dresser  officiated.  Among  the  many 
friends  of  Lincoln  who  were  present  was  Thomas  C. 
Brown,  one  of  the  judges  of  the  state  supreme  court. 
He  was  a  blunt,  outspoken  man  and  an  old  timer. 

Parson  Dresser  was  attired  in  full  canonical  robes 
and  recited  the  service  with  much  impressive  solemnity, 
He  handed  Lincoln  the  ring,  who,  placing  it  on  the 
bride's  finger,  repeated  the  church  formula,  ''With  this 
ring,  I  thee  endow  with  all  my  goods  and  chattels, 
lands  and  tenements." 

Judge  Brown,  who  had  never  before  witnessed  such 
a  ceremony,  and  looked  upon  it  as  utterly  absurd, 
ejaculated,  in  a  tone  loud  enough  to  be  heard  by  all, 
"God  Almighty,  Lincoln,  the  statute  fixes  all  that!" 
This  unexpected  interruption  almost  upset  the  old  par- 
son, w^ho  had  a  keen  sense  of  the  ridiculous,  but  he 
quickly  recovered  his  gravity  and  hastily  pronounced 
the  couple  man  and  wife. 

Lincoln's  Personal  Appearance. 

That  Lincoln  was  a  man  of  extraordinary  personal 
appearance  is  well  known.  He  measured  six  feet  four 
inches,  and  as  most  men  are  below  six  feet  it  will  be  seen 
that  he  was  considerably  taller  than  the  average.     He 


Tersely  Told,  29 

possessed  great  strength,  both  bodily  and  mental,  and 
had  a  superabundance  of  patience,  which  he  displayed 
constantly,  and  treated  even  those  who  differed  with 
him  with  respect  and  kindness.  One  who  had  sustained 
close  relations  with  Lincoln  and  knew  him  intimately, 
the  late  Charles  A.  Dana,  in  his  Reminiscences  of 
Abraham  Lincoln,  pubHshed  in  McClure's  Magazine, 
thus  describes  him : 

*'Mr.  Lincoln's  face  was  thin,  and  his  features  were 
large.  He  had  black  hair,  heavy  eyebrows,  and  a  square 
and  well  developed  forehead.  His  complexion  was 
dark  and  quite  sallow.  He  had  a  smile  that  was  most 
lovely,  surpassing  even  a  woman's  smile  in  its  engaging 
quality.  When  pleased  his  face  would  light  up  very 
pleasantly.  Some  have  said  he  was  awkw^ard  in  his 
step.  The  word  'awlcc^/ard'  hardly  fits,  because  there 
was  such  a  charm  and  beauty  about  his  expression,  such 
good  hiomor  and  friendly  spirit  looking  from  his  eyes, 
that  one  looking  at  him  never  thought  whether  he  was 
awkward  or  graceful.  His  whole  personality  at  once 
caused  you  to  think,  *What  a  kindly  character  this  man 
has ! '  Always  dignified  in  manner,  he  was  benevolent 
and  benignant,  always  wishing  to  do  somebody  some 
good  if  he  could.  He  was  all  solid,  hard,  keen  intelli- 
gence combined  with  goodness. " 


Lincoln's  Mother. 

Not  long  before  his  tragic  death,  Mr.  Lincoln  said: 

"All  that  I  am,  and  all  that  I  hope  to  be,  I  owe  to 

my  mother. "    That  mother  died,  when  little  Abe  was 


30  Best  Lincoln  Stories 

nine  years  of  age.  But  she  had  already  woven  the 
texture  of  her  deepest  character  into  the  habits  and 
purposes  of  her  boy.  Her  own  origin  had  been  humble. 
But  there  were  certain  elements  in  her  character  that 
prepared  her  for  grand  motherhood.  When  Nancy 
Hanks,  at  the  age  of  twenty-three,  gave  her  heart  and 
hand  to  Thomas  Lincoln,  she  was  a  young  woman  of 
large  trustfulness,  of  loving,  unselfish  disposition,  of 
profound  faith  in  Divine  Providence,  of  unswerving 
Christian  profession. 

On  the  day  of  their  marriage  Thomas  Lincoln  took 
this  young  wife  to  his  unfinished  cabin,  which  had  as 
yet  neither  door,  floor,  nor  window.  The  young  man 
w^as  a  shiftless  Kentucky  hunter,  who  could  not  read  a 
word.  He  was  handy  with  his  few  carpenter  tools,  but 
had  received  no  encouragement  to  keep  at  work.  His 
happy,  trusting  wife  assisted  him  to  finish  the  cabin. 
He  mortared  the  chinks  with  mud  which  they  together 
had  mixed.  Her  hope  and  song  made  the  work  of  the 
day  his  happy  employ.  In  the  evening  she  taught  him 
to  read,  spelling  the  words  out  of  her  Bible  as  the  text 
book,  which  served  her  double  ptupose. 

From  that  day  Thomas  Lincoln  was  a  new  man. 
It  was  this  conscientious  wife  that  inspired  him  to  move 
across  the  Ohio  into  the  free  State  of  Indiana.  Here 
Lincoln  soon  became  a  justice  of  the  peace.  When  this 
wife  died,  only  twelve  years  after  their  marriage, 
Thomas  Lincoln  had  been  transfonned  from  the  shift- 
less hunter,  who  could  not  read,  to  an  intelligent  farmer 
of  the  largest  influence  of  any  man  in  his  township. 
Little  Abe  had  been  taught  to  read  out  of  that  same 


Tersely  Told,  31 

Bible,  and  had  read  out  of  that  mother's  eyes  and  voice 
her  large  trust  in  the  overshadowing  Providence  and 
her  unswerving  honesty  in  doing  the  right.  It  was 
this  woman  that  put  into  his  hands  the  fine  books — 
the  Bible,  Pilgrim's  Progress,  ^sop's  Fables,  Robinson 
Crusoe,  and  Weems'  Life  of  Washington. 

Such  was  the  mother  that  started  Abraham  Lincoln. 
''Widow  Johnston"  who  became  his  stepmother,  was  a 
good  woman,  with  whom  he  always  maintained  the 
kindest  relations.  She  deserved  the  honorable  mention 
she  received. 


Lincoln's  Melancholia. 

A  friend  of  Lincoln  writes:  Lincoln's  periods  of 
melancholy  are  proverbial.  On  one  occasion,  while 
in  court  in  1855,  Maj.  H.  C.  Whitney  describes  him  as 
*' sitting  alone  in  one  comer  of  the  room  remote  from 
any  one  else,  wrapped  in  abstraction  and  gloom.  It 
w^as  a  sad  but  interesting  study  for  me,  and  I  watched 
him  for  some  time.  It  appeared  as  if  he  were  pursuing 
in  his  mind  some  sad  subject  through  various  sinuosities, 
and  his  face  would  assume  at  times  the  deepest  phases 
of  seeming  pain,  but  no  relief  came  from  this  dark  and 
despairing  m.elancholy  till  he  was  roused  by  the  break- 
ing up  of  court,  when  he  emerged  from  his  cave  of  gloom 
and  came  back,  like  one  awakened  from  sleep,  to  the 
world  in  which  he  lived  again."  As  early  as  1837 
Robert  L.  Wilson,  who  was  his  colleague  in  the  legis- 
lature, testifies  that  Lincoln  admitted  to  him,  that, 
although  he  appeared  to  enjoy  life  rapturously,  still  he 


32  Best  Lincoln  Stones 

was  the  victim  of  extreme  melancholy,  and  that  he  was 
so  overcome  at  times  by  depression  of  spirits  that  he 
never  dared  carry  a  pocketknife. 

To  physicians  he  was  something  of  a  physiological 
puzzle.  John  T.  Stuart  insisted  that  his  digestion  was 
organically  defective,  so  that  the  pores  of  his  skin 
oftentimes  performed  the  functions  of  the  bowels ;  that 
liis  Hver  operated  abnormally  and  failed  to  secrete  bile, 
and  that  these  things  themselves  were  sufficient  in  his 
opinion  to  produce  the  deepest  mental  depression  and 
melancholy. 

Lincoln's  law  partner,  Mr.  Hemdon,  attributed 
Lincoln's  melancholy  to  the  death  of  Anna  Rutledge, 
beheving  that  his  grief  at  her  untimely  death  was  so 
intense  that  it  cast  a  perpetual  shadow  over  his  mental 
horizon.  Another  believed  that  it  arose  from  his  do- 
mestic environments ;  that  his  family  relations  were  far 
from  pleasant,  and  that  that  imhappy  feature  of  his 
life  was  a  constant  menace  to  his  peace  and  perfect 
equipoise  of  spirits.  "Although  married,"  says  one, 
"he  was  not  mated,  so  that  if  we  see  him  come  into  his 
office  in  the  morning  eating  cheese  and  bologna  sausages 
philisophically,  what  can  we  expect  but  some  periods  of 
sadness  and  gloom?  Emerson,  who  you  and  I  hold 
in  high  esteem,  had  pie  for  breakfast  all  his  married 
life,  and  in  my  opinion  that  is  what  clouded  his  mem- 
ory the  rest  of  his  life  after  seventy  years  of  age. " 

Lincoln's  Height. 

Emma  Gurley  Adams  in  the  New  York  Press: 
Sir: — The  admirable  speech  of  Hon.   Thomas  B. 


Tersely  Told.  33 

Reed  in  your  paper  of  Feb.  9,  contains  one  error  which 
I  would  Hke  to  correct.  Mr.  Reed  says  Mr.  Lincoln 
was  six  feet  four  inches  in  height.  Mr.  Lincoln  told 
my  father  that  he  was  exactly  six  feet  three  inches  only 
a  short  time  before  his  tragic  death.  Mr.  Lincoln  was 
very  fond  of  tall  men,  and  generally  knew  their  exact 
height  and  never  hesitated  to  say:  **I  am  exactly 
six  feet  three. " 


How  Lincoln  Became  a  Lawyer. 

That  Lincoln  was  a  skilled  lawyer  is  well  known. 
It  is  not,  however,  generally  known  that  he  learned 
law  himself  never  having  studied  with  any  one,  or  hav- 
ing attended  any  law  school.  He  was  pre-eminently  a 
self-educated  man.  •  He  borrowed  law  books  of  his 
friend  Stuart,  of  Springfield,  111.,  took  themx  home 
(twenty  miles  away)  and  studied  them  hard.  He 
walked  all  the  way  to  Springfield  and  back,  and  usually 
read  while  walking.  He  ofter  read  aloud  during  these 
trips.  Twenty  years  afterward,  while  he  was  a  great 
lawyer  and  statesman,  he  gave  this  advice  to  a  young 
man  who  asked  him  ''how  he  could  become  a  great 
lawyer?  " 

"Get  books,  and  read  and  study  them  carefully. 
Begin  with  Blackstone's  'Commentaries,'  and  after 
reading  carefully  through,  say  twice,  take  up  Chitty's 
'Pleadings,'  Greenleaf's  'Evidence,'  and  Story's  'Equ- 
ity,' in  succession.  Work,  work,  work  is  the  main 
thing. " 


34  Best  Lincoln  Stori^ 

Lincoln  as  a  Lawyer. 

When  Lincoln  became  a  la^\ye^,  he  carried  to  the 
bar  his  habitual  honesty.  His  associates  were  often 
surprised  by  his  utter  disregard  of  self-interest,  while 
they  could  but  admire  his  conscientious  defense  of 
what  he  considered  right.  One  day  a  stranger  called 
to  secure  his  services. 

"State  your  case, "  said  Lincoln. 

A  history  of  the  case  was  given,  when  Lincoln  as- 
tonished him  by  saying: 

**I  cannot  serve  you;  for  you  are  wrong  and  the 
other  party  is  right. " 

*'That  is  none  of  your  business,  if  I  hire  and  pay 
you  for  taking  the  case, "  retorted  the  man. 

''Not  my  business!"  exclaimed  Lincoln.  **My 
business  is  never  to  defend  \\Tong,  if  I  am  a  lawyer.  I 
never  imdertake  a  case  that  is  manifestly  \^Tong. " 

*' Well,  you  can  make  trouble  for  the  fellow, "  added 
the  appHcant. 

*'Yes,"  replied  Lincoln,  fully  a'-oused,  "there  is  no 
doubt  but  that  I  can  gain  the  case  for  you,  and  set  a 
whole  neighborhood  at  loggerhead.  I  can  distress  a 
widowed  mother  and  her  six  fathe^-Tess  children,  and 
thereby  get  for  you  six  hundred  donars,  which  rightly 
belongs  as  much  to  the  woman  and  her  children  as  it 
does  to  you;  but  I  won't  do  it. " 

"Not  for  any  amount  of  pay?"  continued  the 
stranger. 

"  Not  for  all  you  are  worth, "  replied  Lincoln.  "  You 
must  remember  that  some  things  which  are  legally  right 
are  not  morally  right.    I  shall  not  take  your  case. " 


Tersely  Told.  35 

"I  don't  care  a  snap  whether  you  do  or  not!"  ex- 
claimed the  man  angrily,  starting  to  go. 

*'I  will  give  you  a  piece  of  advice  without  charge, " 
added  Lincoln.  "  You  seem  to  be  a  sprightly,  energetic 
man;  I  would  advise  you  to  make  six  hundred  dollars 
some  other  way.'* 

LincoIn^s  Conscientiousness  in  Taking  Cases. 

Even  as  early  as  1852  Lincoln  had  acquired  a  repu- 
tation for  story  telling.  When  not  busy  during  the 
session  of  the  court  he  was  "habitually  whispering 
stories  to  his  neighbors,  frequently  to  the  annoyance  of 
Judge  Davis,  who  presided  over  the  English  circuit. " 
If  Lincoln  persisted  too  long  the  judge  would  rap  on  the 
chair  and  exclaim:  "Come,  come,  Mr.  Lincoln;  I 
can't  stand  this  I  There  is  no  use  trying  to  carry  on 
two  courts.  I  must  adjourn  mine  or  yours,  and  I 
think  you  will  have  to  be  the  one.  '*  As  soon  as  the 
group  had  scattered,  the  judge  would  call  one  of  the 
men  to  him  and  ask;  "What  was  that  Lincoln  was 
telling?" 

In  his  law  practice  Lincoln  seems  to  have  been  sin- 
guarly  conscientious,  his  first  effort  being  to  try  to 
arrange  matters  so  as  to  avoid  litigation.  Nor  would 
he  assimie  a  case  that  he  felt  was  not  founded  upon 
right  and  justice. 

The  Jury  Understood. 

Another  one  of  these  anecdotes  is  related  in  con- 
nection with  a  case  involving  a  bodily  attack.     Mr. 


36  Best  Lincoln  Stories 

Lincoln  defended,  and  told  the  jury  that  his  client  was 
in  the  fix  of  a  man  who,  in  going  along  the  highway  with 
a  pitchfork  over  his  shoulder,  was  attacked  by  a  fierce 
dog  that  ran  out  at  him  from  a  farmer's  door-yard. 
In  parrying  off  the  brute  with  the  fork  its  prongs  stuck 
into  him  and  killed  him. 

"What  made  you  kill  my  dog?'*  said  the  farmer. 

*'What  made  him  bite  me?" 

*'But  why  did  you  not  go  after  him  with  the  other 
end  of  the  pitchfork? " 

*'Why  did  he  not  come  at  me  with  his  other  end?" 

At  tins  Mr.  Lincoln  whirled  about  in  his  long  arms 
an  imaginary  dog  and  pushed  his  tail  end  towards  the 
jury.  This  was  the  defensive  plea  of  *'Son  assault 
demesne" — ^loosely,  that  "The  other  fellow  brought 
on  the  fight" — quickly  told  and  in  a  way  the  dullest 
mind  would  grasp  and  retain. 

Lincoln's  Honesty  with  a  Lady  Client. 

A  lady  who  had  a  real  estate  claim  which  she  desired 
prosecuted  once  called  on  Lincoln  and  wished  him  to 
take  up  her  case.  She  left  the  claim  in  his  hands,  to- 
gether with  a  check  for  two  hundred  dollars  as  retain- 
ing fee.  Lincoln  told  her  to  call  the  next  day,  and 
meanwhile  he  would  examine  her  claim. 

Upon  presenting  herself  the  next  day  the  lady  was 
informed  that  he  had  examined  the  case  carefully  and 
told  her  frankly  that  she  had  no  vaHd  or  legal  grounds 
on  which  to  base  her  claim.  He  therefore  could  not 
advise  her  to  institute  legal  proceedings.  The  lady  was 
satisfied,  and  thanking  Inm,  rose  to  leave. 


Tersely  Told,  37 

*'Wait,'*  said  Lincoln,  at  the  same  time  fumbling 
in  his  vest  pocket,  ^'  here  is  the  check  you  left  with  me. " 

*'But,  Mr.  Lincoln,  I  think  you  have  earned  that," 
replied  the  lady. 

''No,  no,"  he  responded,  handing  it  back  to  her, 
''that  would  not  be  right.  I  can't  take  pay  for  doing 
my  duty. " — From  Lincoln's  Stories,  by  J.  B.  McClure. 

Lincoln  Wins  a  Celebrated  Case. 

The  son  of  Lincoln's  old  friend  and  former  employer, 
who  had  loaned  him  books,  was  charged  with  a  murder 
committed  in  a  riot  at  a  camp-meeting.  Lincoln  vol- 
unteered for  the  defense. 

A  witness  swore  that  he  saw  the  prisoner  strike  the 
fatal  blow.  It  was  night,  but  he  swore  that  the  full 
moon  was  shining  clear,  and  he  saw  everything  dis- 
tinctly. The  case  seemed  hopeless,  but  Lincoln  pro- 
duced an  almanac,  and  showed  that  at  that  hour  there 
was  no  moon.  "Then  he  depicted  the  crime  of  per- 
jury with  such  eloquence  that  the  false  witness  fled 
the  courthouse. " 

One  who  heard  the  trial  says:  "It  was  near  night 
when  Lincoln  concluded,  saying,  'If  justice  was  done, 
before  the  sim  set  it  would  shine  upon  his  client  a  free 
man.'  " 

The  court  charged  the  jury;  they  returned  and 
brought  in  a  verdict  of  "not  guilty."  The  prisoner 
fell  into  his  weeping  mother's  arms,  says  the  writer, 
and  then  turned  to  thank  Lincoln.  The  latter,  looking 
out  at  the  sun,  said:  "  It  is  not  yet  simdown,  and  you 
are  free.  "—From  Lincohi's  Stories,  by  J.  B.  McCltire 


38  Best  Lincoln  Stories 

Lincoln's  "Selfishness." 

Mr.  Lincoln  once  remarked  to  a  fellow-passenger 
on  the  old-time  mud- wagon  coach,  on  the  corduroy 
road  w^hich  antedated  railroads,  that  all  men  were 
prompted  by  selfishness  in  doing  good  or  evil.  His 
fellow-passenger  was  antagonizing  his  position  when 
they  were  passing  over  a  corduroy  bridge  that  spanned 
a  slough.  As  they  crossed  this  bridge,  and  the  mud- 
wagon  was  shaking  like  a  sucker  with  chills,  they  espied 
an  old,  razor-back  sow  on  the  bank  of  the  slough,  making 
a  terrible  noise  because  her  pigs  had  got  into  the  slough 
and  were  unable  to  get  out  and  were  in  danger  of  drown- 
ing. As  the  old  coach  began  to  cHmb  the  hillside  Mr. 
Lincoln  called  out:  ^'Driver,  can't  you  stop  just  a 
moment?"  The  driver  replied,  *'If  the  other  fellow 
don't  object."  The  *' other  feller" — who  w^as  no  less 
a  personage  than,  at  that  time,  *'Col.  E.  D.  Baker,  the 
gallant  general  who  gave  his  life  in  defense  of  old  glory 
at  Ball's  Bluff — did  not  *' object,"  when  Mr.  Lincoln 
jimiped  out,  ran  back  to  the  slough  and  began  to  lift 
the  little  pigs  out  of  the  mud  and  water  and  place  them 
on  the  bank.  When  he  returned  Col.  Baker  remarked: 
*'Now,  Abe,  where  does  selfishness  come  in  in  this  little 
episode?"  **Why,  bless  your  soul,  Ed,  that  was  the 
very  essence  of  selfishness.  I  would  have  had  no  peace 
of  mind  all  day  had  I  gone  on  and  left  that  suffering 
old  sow  worrying  over  those  pigs.  I  did  it  to  get  peace 
of  mind,  don't  you  see?" 


Tersely  Told.  39 

Lincoln  Removes  a  License  on  Theatres. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  anecdotes  about  the 
beloved  Lincoki  is  the  one  quoted  from  Joe  Jefferson's 
autobiography.  Jefferson  and  his  father  were  playing 
at  Springfield,  during  the  session  of  the  legislature,  and, 
as  there  were  no  theatres  in  town,  had  gone  to  the  ex- 
pense of  building  one.  Hardly  had  this  been  done 
when  a  religious  revival  broke  out.  The  church  people 
condemned  the  theatre  and  prevailed  upon  the  author- 
ities to  impose  a  license  which  was  practically  prohibi- 
tion. 

*'In  the  midst  of  our  trouble,'^  says  Jefferson,  *'a 
young  lawyer  called  on  the  managers.  He  had  heard 
of  the  injustice  and  offered,  if  they  would  place  the 
matter  in  his  hands,  to  have  the  Hcense  taken  off,  de- 
claring that  he  only  desired  to  see  fair  play,  and  he 
would  accept  no  fee  whether  he  failed  or  succeeded. 
The  yoimg  lawyer  began  his  harangue.  He  handled  the 
subject  with  tact,  skill  and  humor,  tracing  the  history 
of  the  drama  from  the  time  when  Thespis  acted  in  a 
cart  to  the  stage  of  today.  He  illustrated  his  speech 
with  a  nimiber  of  anecdotes  and  kept  the  coimcil  in  a 
roar  of  laughter.  His  good  humor  prevailed  and  the 
exorbitant  tax  was  taken  off.  The  young  lawyer  was 
Lincoln. 

How  Lincoln  Got  the  Worst  of  a  Horse  Trade. 

Abraham  Lincoln  was  fond  of  a  good  story,  and  it 
is  a  well-known  fact  that  he  often  illustrated  an  im- 
portant point  in  the  business  at  hand  by  resorting  to  his 


40  Best  Lincoln  Stories 

favorite  pastime.  Probably,  one  of  the  best  he  ever 
told  he  related  of  himself  when  he  was  a  lawyer  in  Illi- 
nois. One  day  Lincoln  and  a  certain  judge,  who  was 
an  intimate  friend  of  his,  were  bantering  each  other  about 
horses,  a  favorite  topic  of  theirs.     Finally  Lincoln  said: 

''Well,  look  here,  Judge,  I'll  tell  you  what  I'll  do. 
rU  make  a  horse  trade  with  you,  only  it  must  be  upon 
these  stipulations:  Neither  party  shall  see  the  other's 
horse  until  it  is  produced  here  in  the  court  yard  of  the 
hotel,  and  both  parties  must  trade  horses.  If  either 
party  backs  out  of  the  agreement,  he  does  so  under  a 
forfeiture  of  $25. " 

*' Agreed,"  cried  the  judge,  and  both  he  and  Lin- 
coln went  in  quest  of  their  respective  animals. 

A  crowd  gathered,  anticipating  some  fim,  and  when 
the  judge  returned  first,  the  laugh  was  uproarious. 
He  led,  or  rather  dragged,  at  the  end  of  a  halter  the 
meanest,  boniest,  rib-staring  quadruped — bHnd  in  both 
eyes — that  ever  pressed  turf.  But  presently  Lincoln 
came  along  carrying  over  his  shoulder  a  carpenter's 
horse.  Then  the  mirth  of  the  crowd  was  furious. 
Lincoln  solemnly  set  his  horse  down,  and  silently  sur- 
veyed the  judge's  animal  with  a  comical  look  of  infinite 
disgust. 

**Well,  Judge,"  he  finally  said,  ''this  is  the  first 
time  I  ever  got  the  worst  of  it  in  a  horse  trade. " 

Lincoln  Helped  Him  to  Win. 

His  first  case  at  the  bar  will  never  be  forgotten  by 
ex-Senator  John  C.  S.  Blackburn,  of  Kentucky,  for 
Abraham  Lincohi  played  a  conspicuous  part  in  helping 


Tersely  Told.  dl 

the  young  Kentucldan  to  win  his  suit.  Lincoki  was 
merely  an  attorney,  waiting  for  one  of  his  cases  to  be 
called,  when  the  incident  occurred. 

Ex-Senator  Blackburn  was  but  twenty  years  old 
when  he  began  the  practice  of  law,  having  graduated  at 
Center  College,  Danville,  Ky.  His  first  case  was  in  the 
United  States  court  in  Chicago,  presided  over  by  Jus- 
tice John  McLean,  then  on  the  circuit,  says  the  Chicago 
Times-Herald.  The  opposing  coimsel  was  Isaac  N. 
Arnold,  then  at  the  head  of  the  Chicago  bar,  and  subse- 
quently a  member  of  congress  and  author  of  the  first 
biography  of  Lincoln.  Young  Blackburn  had  filed 
a  demurrer  to  Mr.  Arnold's  pleadings  in  the  cause,  and 
when  the  case  was  reached  on  the  calendar  the  young 
Kentuckian  was  quite  nervous  at  having  such  a  for- 
midable and  experienced  antagonist,  while  the  dignity 
of  the  tribunal  and  the  presence  of  a  large  number  of 
eminent  lawyers  in  court  served  to  increase  his  timidity 
and  embarrassment.  In  truth,  the  stripling  barrister 
was  willing  to  have  any  disposition  made  of  the  cause, 
in  order  to  get  rid  of  the  burden  of  embarrassment  and 
"stage  fright. "  He  was  ready  to  adopt  any  suggestion 
the  opposing  coimsel  should  make. 

Arnold  made  an  argimient  in  which  he  criticized  the 
demurrer  in  a  manner  that  increased  the  young  lawyer's 
confusion.  However,  Blackburn  knew  that  he  had  to 
make  some  kind  of  an  effort.  He  proceeded  with  a  few 
remarks,  weak  and  bewildering,  and  was  about  to  sit 
when  a  tall,  homely,  loose-jointed  man  sitting  in  the 
bar  arose  and  addressed  the  court  in  behalf  of  the  posi- 
tion the  young  Kentuckian  had  assumed  in  a  feeble 


42  Best  Lincoln  Stories 

and  tangled  argument,  making  the  points  so  clear  that 
the  court  sustained  the  demurrer. 

Blackburn  did  not  know  who  his  volimteer  friend 
was,  and  Mr.  Arnold  got  up  and  sought  to  rebuke  the 
latter  for  attempting  to  interfere  in  the  case,  which  he 
had  nothing  to  do  with.  This  volunteer  was  none 
other  than  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  this  was  the  first 
and  last  time  the  Kentuckian  ever  saw  the  ''rail- 
splitting  President."  In  replying  to  Mr.  Arnold's 
strictures,  Mr.  Lincoln  said  he  claimed  the  privilege 
of  giving  a  young  lawyer  a  helping  hand  when  struggling 
with  his  first  case,  especially  when  he  was  pitted  against 
an  experienced  practitioner 

Lincoln  Settles  a  Quarrel  Without  Going  to  Law. 

When  Abe  Lincoln  used  to  be  drifting  around  the 
country  practicing  law  in  Fulton  and  Menard  counties, 
Illinois,  an  old  fellow  met  him  going  toLewistown,  riding 
a  horse  which,  while  it  was  a  serviceable  enough  an 
animal,  was  not  of  the  kind  to  be  truthfully  called  a 
fine  saddler.  It  was  a  weather-beaten  nag,  patient 
and  plodding  and  it  toiled  along  mth  Abe— and  Abe's 
books,  tucked  away  in  saddle-bags,  lay  heavy  on  the 
horse's  flank. 

"Hello,  Uncle  Tommy, "  said  Abe. 

''Hello,  Abe,"  responded  Uncle  Tommy.  'Tm 
powerful  glad  to  see  ye,  Abe,  for  I'm  gwyne  to  have 
sumthin'  fer  ye  at  Lewiston  co't,  I  reckon.  '* 

''How's  that,  Uncle  Tommy? "  said  Abe. 


T&rsely  Told,  43 

*'Well,  Jim  Adams,  his  land  nms  long  o'  mine,  he's 
pesterin'  me  a  heap  an'  I  got  to  get  the  law  on  Jim,  I 
reckon. " 

"Uncle  Tommy,  you  haven't  had  any  fights  with 
Jim,  have  you?  " 

"No." 

'  'He 's  a  fair  to  middling  neighbor,  isn't  he?' ' 

* 'Only  tollable,  Abe." 

"He's  been  a  neighbor  of  yours  for  a  long  time, 
nasn't  he?" 

"Nigh  on  to  fifteen  years. " 

"  Part  of  the  time  you  get  along  all  right,  don't  you?' ' 

'  'I  reckon  we  do,  Abe. " 

"Well,  now,  Uncle  Tommy,  you  see  this  horse  of 
mine?  He  isn't  as  good  a  horse  as  I  could  straddle,  and 
I  sometimes  get  out  of  patience  with  him,  but  I  know 
his  faults.  He  does  fairly  well  as  horses  go,  and  it 
might  take  me  a  long  time  to  get  used  to  some  other 
horse's  faults.  For  aU  horses  have  faults.  You  and 
Uncle  Jimmy  must  put  up  with  each  other  as  I  and  my 
horse  do  with  one  another. " 

"I  reckon,  Abe,"  said  Uncle  Tommy,  as  he  bit  off 
about  four  oimces  of  Missouri  plug.  "  I  reckon  you're 
about  right. " 

And  Abe  Lincoln,  with  a  smile  on  his  gaunt  face,  rode 
on  toward  Lewistown. 


44  Best  Lincoln  Stories 

A  Lincoln  Story  about  Little  Dan  Webster*s 
Soiled  Hands. 

Mr.  Lincoln,  on  one  occasion  narrated  to  Hon.  Mr. 
Odell  and  others,  with  much  zest,  the  following  story 
about  young  Daniel  Webster. 

When  quite  young,  at  school,  Daniel  was  one  day 
guilty  of  a  gross  violation  of  the  rules.  He  was  detected 
in  the  act,  and  called  up  by  the  teacher  for  pimishment. 
This  was  to  be  the  old-fashioned  ^'ferruling'*  of  the 
hand.  His  hands  happened  to  be  very  dirty.  KJnowing 
this,  on  his  way  to  the  teacher's  desk,  he  spit  upon  the 
palm  of  his  right  hand,  wiping  it  off  upon  the  side  of  his 
pantaloons. 

*'Give  me  your  hand,  sir,"  said  the  teacher,  very 
sternly. 

Out  went  the  right  hand,  partly  cleaned.  The 
teacher  looked  at  it  a  moment  and  said: 

"  Daniel !  if  you  will  find  another  hand  in  this  school 
room  as  filthy  as  that,  I  will  let  you  off  this  time! " 

Instantly  from  behind  his  back  came  the  left  hand. 
''Here  it  is,  sir,'*  was  the  ready  reply. 

"That  will  do,"  said  the  teacher,  "for  this  time; 
you  can  take  your  seat,  sir. " — From  Lincoln's  Stories, 
by  J.  B.  McClure. 


Lincoln's  Long  Limbs  Drive  a  Man  out  of  His  Berth. 

There  was  one  story  of  his  carreer  that  the  late 
George  M.  Pullman  told  with  manifest  delight,  which 
is  thus  related  by  an  intimate  friend. 


Tersely  Told.  45 

One  night  going  out  of  Chicago,  a  long,  lean,  ugly 
man,  with  a  wart  on  his  cheek,  came  into  the  depot. 
He  paid  George  M.  Pullman,  50  cents,  and  half  a  berth 
was  assigned  him.  Then  he  took  off  his  coat  and  vest 
and  hung  them  up,  and  they  fitted  the  peg  about  as 
well  as  they  fitted  him.  Then  he  kicked  off  his  boots, 
which  were  of  surprising  length,  turned  into  the  berth, 
and  having  an  easy  conscience,  was  sleeping  like  a 
healthy  baby  before  the  car  left  the  depot.  Along 
came  another  passenger  and  paid  his  50  cents.  In  two 
minutes  he  was  back  at  George  Pullman. 

** There's  a  man  in  that  berth  of  mine,"  said  he, 
hotly,  **and  he's  about  ten  feet  high.  How  am  I  going 
to  sleep  there,  I'd  like  to  know?    Go  and  look  at  him. " 

In  went  Piillman — ^mad,  too.  The  tall,  lank  man's 
knees  were  imder  his  chin,  his  arms  were  stretched 
across  the  bed  and  his  feet  were  stored  comfortably — 
for  him.  Pullman  shook  him  until  he  awoke,  and  then 
told  him  if  he  wanted  the  whole  berth  he  would  have  to 
pay  $1. 

*'My  dear  sir,'*  said  the  tall  man,  *'a  contract  is  a 
contract,  I  have  paid  you  50  cents  for  half  this  berth, 
and,  as  you  see,  I'm  occupying  it.  There's  the  other 
half, "  pointing  to  a  strip  about  six  inches  wide.  ''  Sell 
that  and  don't  disturb  me  again. '*  And,  so  saying, 
the  man  with  a  wart  on  his  face  went  to  sleep  again. 
He  was  Abraham  Lincoln. 

Lincoln's  Joke  on  Douglas. 

On  one  occasion,  when  Lincoln  and  Douglas  were 
"stumping"  the  State  of  Illinois  together  as  political 


46  Best  Lincoln  Stories 

opponents,  Douglas,  who  had  the  first  speech,  remarked 
that  in  early  life,  his  father,  who  he  said  was  an  excel- 
lent cooper  by  trade,  apprenticed  him  out  to  learn  the 
cabinet  business. 

This  was  too  good  for  Lincoln  to  let  pass,  so  when 
his  turn  came  to  reply,  he  said : 

"I  had  imderstood  before  that  Mr.  Douglas  had 
been  bound  out  to  learn  the  cabinet-making  business, 
which  is  all  well  enough,  but  I  was  not  aware  imtil  now 
that  is  father  was  a  cooper.  I  have  no  doubt,  however, 
that  he  was  one,  and  I  am  certain,  also,  that  he  was  a 
very  good  one,  for  (here  Lincoln  gently  bowed  toward 
Douglas)  he  has  made  one  of  the  best  whisky  casks  I 
have  ever  seen.  '^ 

As  Douglas  was  a  short  heavy-set  man,  and  occa- 
sionally imbibed,  the  pith  of  the  joke  was  at  once  appar- 
ent, and  most  heartily  enjoyed  by  all. 

On  another  occasion,  Douglas  in  one  of  his  speeches, 
made  a  strong  point  against  Lincoln  by  telling  the 
crowd  that  when  he  first  knew  Mr.  Lincoln  he  was  a 
"  grocery -keeper, "  and  sold  whisky,  cigars,  etc.  *'  Mr. 
L.,"  he  said,  *'was  a  very  good  bartender!"  This 
brought  the  laugh  on  Lincoln,  whose  reply,  however, 
soon  came,  and  then  the  laugh  was  on  the  other  side. 

^  What  Mr.  Douglas  has  said,  gentlemen, "  replied 
Mr.  Lincoln,  "is  true  enough;  I  did  keep  a  grocery 
and  I  did  sell  cotton,  candles  and  cigars,  and  some- 
times whisky;  but  I  remember  in  those  days  that  Mr. 
Douglas  was  one  of  my  best  customers. 

"Many  a  time  have  I  stood  on  one  side  of  the  counter 
and  sold  whisky  to  Mr.  Douglas  on  the  other  side,  but 


Tersely  Told.  47 

the  difference  between  us  now  is  this :  I  have  left  my 
side  of  the  counter,  but  Mr.  Douglas  still  sticks  to  his  as 
tenaciously  as  ever!" — From  Lincoln's  Stories,  by 
J.  B.  IVfcClure. 


Lincoln  Shrewdly  Traps  Douglas. 

Perhaps  no  anecdote  ever  told  of  Mr.  Lincoln 
illustrates  more  forcibly  his  "longheadedness"  in  laying 
plans,  not  even  that  incident  when  he  asked  the  '' Jedge" 
a  question  in  his  debate  with  Mr.  Douglas,  which  may 
be  told  as  follows: 

One  afternoon  during  that  joint  debate  Mr.  Lincoln 
was  sitting  with  his  friends,  planning  the  program,  when 
he  was  observed  to  go  off  in  a  kind  of  reverie,  and  for 
some  time  appeared  totally  oblivious  of  everything 
aroiuid  him.  Then  slowly  bringing  his  right  hand  up, 
holding  it  a  moment  in  the  air  and  letting  it  fall  with  a 
quick  slap  upon  his  thigh,  he  said: 

''There,  I  am  going  to  ask  the  ^jedge*  (he  always 
called  him  the  'jedge')  a  question  to-night,  and  I  don 't 
care  the  ghost  of  a  continental  which  way  he  answers 
it.  If  he  answers  it  one  way  he  will  lose  the  senator- 
ship.  If  he  answers  it  the  other  way  it  will  lose  him 
the  Presidency. " 

No  one  asked  him  what  the  question  was :  but  that 
evening  it  was  the  turn  for  Mr.  Douglas  to  speak  first, 
and  right  in  the  midst  of  his  address,  all  at  once  Mr. 
Lincoln  roused  up  as  if  a  new  thought  had  suddenly 
struck  him,  and  said: 

'' Jedge,  will  you  allow  me  to  ask  you  one  question?  * 


48  Best  Lincoln  Stories 

*' Certainly,  *'  said  Mr.  Douglas. 

**  Suppose,  Jedge,  there  was  a  new  town  or  colony 
just  started  in  some  Western  territory;  and  suppose 
there  were  precisely  100  householders — voters — there; 
and  suppose,  Jedge,  that  ninety-nine  did  not  want 
slavery  and  one  did.    What  would  be  done  about  it?  " 

Judge  Douglas  beat  about  the  bush,  but  failed  to 
give  a  direct  answer. 

"No,  no,  Jedge,  that  won't  do.  Tell  us  plainly 
what  would  be  done  about  it?" 

Again  Douglas  tried  to  evade,  but  Lincoln  would 
not  be  put  off,  and  he  insisted  that  a  direct  answer 
should  be  given  At  last  Douglas  admitted  that  the 
majority  would  have  their  way  by  some  means  or  other. 

Mr.  Lincoln  said  no  more.  He  had  secured  what 
he  wanted.  Douglas  had  answered  the  question  as 
Illinois  people  would  have  answered  it,  and  he  got  the 
Senatorship.  But  that  answer  was  not  satisfactory 
to  the  people  of  the  South.  In  1860  the  Charleston 
convention  split  in  two  factions  and  "it  lost  him  the 
Presidency,"  and  it  made  Abraham  Lincoln  President. 

Lincoln's  Fairness  in  Debate. 

The  first  time  I  met  Mr.  Lincoln  was  during  his 
contest  with  Douglas.  I  was  a  young  clergyman 
in  a  small  Illinois  country  town.  I  was  almost  a  stranger 
there  when  Lincoln  was  announced  to  make  a  speech. 
I  went  to  the  hall,  got  a  seat  well  forward  and  asked 
a  neighbor  to  point  out  Mr.  Lincoln  when  he  came  in. 
*'You  won't  have  no  trouble  knowin'  him  when  he 


Tersely  Told.  49 

comes,"  said  my  friend,  and  I  didn't.  Soon  a  tall, 
gaunt  man  came  down  the  aisle  and  was  greeted  with 
hearty  applause. 

I  was  specially  impressed  with  the  fairness  and 
honesty  of  the  man.  He  began  by  stating  Douglas' 
points  as  fully  and  fairly  as  Douglas  could  have  done. 
It  struck  me  that  he  even  overdid  it  in  his  anxiety  to 
put  his  opponent's  argument  in  the  most  attractive 
form.  But  then  he  went  at  those  arguments  and 
answered  them  so  convincingly  that  there  was  nothing 
more  to  be  said. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  manner  so  charmed  me  that  I  asked  to 
meet  him  after  the  address,  and  learning  that  he  was  to 
be  in  town  the  next  day  attending  court  I  invited  him 
to  dine  with  me.  He  came,  and  we  had  an  interesting 
visit. 

The  thing  that  most  impressed  me  was  his  reverence 
fpr  learning.  Recently  come  from  divinity  studies,  I 
was  full  of  books,  and  he  was  earnest  in  drawing  me  out 
about  them.  He  was  by  no  means  ignorant  of  Hterature 
but  as  a  man  of  affairs  natvurally  he  had  not  followed 
new  things  nor  studied  in  the  Hnes  I  had.  Philosophy 
interested  him  particularly,  and  after  we  had  talked 
about  some  of  the  men  then  in  vogue  he  remarked  how 
much  he  felt  the  need  of  reading  and  what  a  loss  it  was 
to  a  man  not  to  have  grown  up  among  books. 

''Men  of  force,"  I  answered,  **can  get  on  pretty 
well  without  books.  They  do  their  own  thinking  in- 
stead of  adopting  what  other  men  think." 


60  Best  Lincoln  Stories 

**  Yes, "  said  Mr.  Lincoln,  "but  books  serve  to  show 
a  man  that  those  original  thoughts  of  his  aren't  very 
new,  after  all. " 

I  met  Mr.  Lincoln  several  times  later,  the  next 
time  a  long  while  after  in  another  place.  I  thought 
he  would  have  forgotten  me,  but  he  knew  me  on  sight 
and  asked  in  the  gentlest  way  possible  about  my  v/ifc, 
who  had  been  ill  when  he  came  to  see  us.  But  of  all 
my  memories  of  Lincoln  the  one  that  stands  out  strong- 
est was  his  interest  in  poetry  and  theology.  He  loved 
the  things  of  the  spirit. — ^A  Clergyman. 


Lincoln  Asked  His  Friend's  Help  for  the  United 
States  Senate. 

One  of  the  most  valued  possessions  of  the  Gillespie 
family  of  Edwardsville,  111.,  is  a  package  of  old  letters, 
the  paper  stained  by  time  and  the  ink  faded,  but  each 
missive  rendered  invaluable,  to  them  at  least,  by  the 
well-known  signature  of  Abraham  Lincoln  which  adorns 
it.  These  letters,  so  carefully  preserved,  are  nearly  all 
of  a  poHtical  nature,  and  are  addressed  to  Hon.  Joseph 
Gillespie,  before  the  war,  one  of  the  leading  politicians 
of  Ilhnois,  a  famous  stump  speaker,  several  times  mem- 
ber of  the  legislature,  and  for  many  years  one  of  Lin- 
coln's most  intimate  pohtical  friends.  The  correspond- 
ence covers  a  period  of  about  ten  years,  from  1849  to 
1858,  and  the  most  interesting  feature  of  this  period, 
so  far  as  Lincoln  was  concerned,  was  his  unsuccessful 
effort  to  be  elected  to  the  United  States  senate.  ^  Prob- 
ably the  first  intimation  of  his  ambition  in  this  direction 


Tersely  Told.  61 

was  conveyed  to  Mr.  Gillespie  in  the  following  letter, 
the  original  of  which  is  now  in  the  possession  of  the 
Missouri  Historical  Association,  having  been  presented 
to  that  society  by  Mr.  Gillespie  in  1876.  A  copy,  how- 
ever, forms  part  of  the  family  collection.    It  reads: 

''Springfield,  111.,  December  1,  1854.— (J.  Gillespie, 
Esq.) — Dear  Sir:  I  have  really  got  it  intomy  head 
to  be  United  States  senator,  and  if  I  could  have 
your  support  my  chances  would  be  reasonably  good. 
But  I  know  and  acknowledge  that  you  have  as  just 
claims  to  the  place  as  I  have;  and,  therefore,  I  cannot 
ask  you  to  3deld  to  me  if  you  are  thinking  of  becoming 
a  candidate  yourself.  If,  however,  you  are  not,  then 
I  would  like  to  be  remembered  by  you;  and  also  to 
have  you  make  a  mark  for  me  with  the  anti-Nebraska 
members  down  your  way.  If  you  know,  and  have  no 
objection  to  tell,  let  me  know  whether  Tnmibull  in- 
tends to  make  a  push.  If  he  does  I  suppose  the  two 
men  in  St.  Clair,  and  one  or  both  in  Madison,  w.ll  be 
for  him. 

*'We  have  the  legislature  clearly  enough  on  joint 
ballot,  but  the  senate  is  very  close,  and  Cullom  told  me 
today  that  the  Nebraska  men  will  stave  off  the  election 
if  they  can.  Even  if  we  get  into  joint  vote  we  shall  have 
difficulty  to  unite  our  forces.  Please  write  me  and  let 
this  be  confidential.    Your  friend  as  ever. 

"A.LINCOLN." 

tt  OF  ILL  Ua 


52  Best  Lincoln  Stories 

Making  Lincoln  Presentable. 

In  narrating  **When  Lincoln  Was  First  Inaugu- 
rated, "  Stephen  Fiske  tells  of  Mrs.  Lincoln's  efforts  to 
have  her  husband  look  presentable  when  receiving  a 
delegation  that  was  to  greet  them  upon  reaching  New 
York  City. 

*'The  train  stopped,"  writes  Mr.  Fiske,  ''and 
through  the  windows  immense  crowds  could  be  seen; 
the  cheering  drowning  the  blowing  off  of  steam  of  the 
locomotive.  Then  Mrs.  Lincoln  opened  her  hand  bag 
and  said: 

*'  'Abraham,  I  must  fix  you  up  a  bit  for  these  city 
folks.' 

*'Mr.  Lincoln  gently  lifted  her  upon  the  seat  before 
him;  she  parted,  combed  and  brushed  his  hair  and 
arranged  his  black  necktie. 

*'  *Do  I  look  nice  now,  mother?'  he  affectionately 
asked. 

"  Well,  you'll  do,  Abraham,*  replied  Mrs.  Lincoln 
critically.  So  he  kissed  her  and  lifted  her  down  from 
the  seat,  and  turned  to  meet  Mayor  Wood,  courtly 
and  suave,  and  to  have  his  hand  shaken  by  the  other 
New  York  officials." 

Evidence  of  Lincoln's  Religious  Belief. 

There  has  been  much  controversy  over  Lincoln's 
religious  beliefs,  many  claiming  that  he  was  a  deist 
while  others  have  sought  to  prove  that  he  was  an  infidel. 
Although  never  a  member  of  any  church,  there  is  much 
docimientary  as  well  as  corroborative  evidence  which 


Tersely  Told,  53 

show  him  to  have  been  a  believer  in  Providence;  and 
in  his  parting  address  to  his  Springfield  neighbors,  when 
leaving  for  Washington  he  said: 

*' Washington  would  never  have  succeeded  except 
for  the  aid  of  Divine  Providence,  upon  which  he  at  all 
times  relied.  I  feel  that  I  cannot  succeed  without  the 
same  Divine  blessing  which  sustained  him;  and  on  the 
same  Almighty  Being  I  place  my  reliance  for  support. 
And  I  hope  you,  my  friends,  will  all  pray  that  I  may 
receive  that  Divine  assistance,  without  which  I  cannot 
succeed,  but  with  which  success  is  certain. " 


Lincoln  a  Temperance  Man. 

After  his  nomination  for  the  Presidency  at  the 
Republican  convention  of  Chicago,  a  committee  visited 
him  in  Springfield  and  gave  him  official  notification  of 
his  nomination. 

The  ceremony  over,  Lincoln  informed  the  company 
that  custom  demanded  that  he  should  treat  them  with 
something  to  drink.  He  thereupon  opened  a  door  that 
led  into  a  room  in  the  rear  and  called  a  girl  servant. 
When  she  appeared  Lincoln  said  something  to  her  in 
an  undertone,  and  returned  to  his  guests.  In  a  few 
minutes  the  girl  appeared,  bearing  a  large  waiter,  con- 
taining several  glass  tumlDlers,  and  a  large  pitcher  in 
the  midst,  which  she  placed  upon  the  table. 

Mr.  Lincoln  arose  and  gravely  addressing  the  com- 
pany, said:  *' Gentlemen,  we  must  pledge  our  mutual 
healths  in  the  most  healthy  beverage  which  God  has 
given  to  man;  it  is  the  only  beverage  I  have  ever  used 


54  Best  Lincoln  Stories 

or  allowed  in  my  family,  and  I  cannot  conscientiously 
depart  from  it  on  the  present  occasion.  It  is  pure 
Adam's  ale  from  the  spring."  So  saying  he  took  a 
tumbler,  touched  it  to  his  Hps  and  pledged  them  his 
respects  in  a  cup  of  cold  water.  Of  course,  all  his 
guests  were  constrained  to  admire  his  consistency,  and 
to  join  in  his  example. — From  Lincoln's  Stories,  by 
J.  B.  McClure. 


Lincoln* s  Famous  Gettysburg  Address. 

Speaking  of  the  dedication  of  the  National  Cemetery 
at  Getty sbtug  and  President  Lincoln's  famous  ad- 
dress, deHvered  on  that  occasion,  Nov.  19,  1863,  Gov. 
Ciurtain,  of  Pennsylvania,  said  that  there  had  been 
much  discussion  as  to  how  and  when  that  address  was 
written,  and  he  continued. 

*'I  can  tell  you  all  about  that.  Of  course,  I  was  there, 
and  the  President  and  his  cabinet  had  arrived  and  were 
at  the  hotel.  Soon  after  his  arrival,  as  we  were  sitting 
around  in  the  parlor,  Mr.  Lincoln  looked  thoughtful 
for  a  moment  or  two,  and  then  said:  *I  believe,  gentle- 
men, the  committee  are  expecting  me  to  say  something 
here  today.  If  you  will  excuse  me  I  will  go  into  this 
room  here  and  prepare  it.'  After  a  time,  he  returned, 
holding  in  his  hand  a  large,  yellow  government  envelope, 
on  which  he  had  written  his  address. 

**  'Here,  gentlemen,'  he  said,  *I  want  to  read  this  to 
you  to  see  if  it  will  do ;'  and  sitting  down  he  read  it  to  us, 
and  then  said:  'Now  for  your  criticisms.  Will  it  do? 
What  do  you  say?' 


*     Tersely  Told.  ^  65 

"Several  spoke  in  favor  of  it,  and  one  or  two  com- 
mended it  in  strong  terms.  'Well/  says  the  President, 
'haven't  you  any  criticisms?  What  do  you  say, 
Seward?' 

"Mr.  Seward  made  one  or  two  suggestions,  bearing 
on  some  slight  verbal  changes,  which  I  believe  Mr. 
Lincoln  incorporated. 

"  'Now  if  you  will  allow  me,  gentlemen,*  continued 
the  President,  'I  will  copy  this  off;^  and  again  with- 
drew and  made  a  copy  of  the  address. " 


The  Gettysburg  Address. 

"Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  Four  score  and  seven 
years  ago  yoiu"  fathers  brought  forth  upon  this  conti- 
nent a  new  nation,  conceived  in  liberty  and  dedicated 
to  the  proposition  that  all  men  are  created  equal.  Now 
we  are  engaged  in  a  great  civil  war,  testing  whether 
that  nation,  or  any  nation  so  conceived  and  so  dedi- 
cated, can  long  endure.  We  are  met  on  a  great  battle- 
field of  that  war.  We  have  come  to  dedicate  a  portion 
of  that  field  as  a  final  resting-place  for  those  who  here 
gave  their  lives  that  the  nation  might  live.  It  is  alto- 
gether fitting  and  proper  that  we  should  do  this. 

"But  in  a  larger  sense  we  cannot  dedicate,  we  can- 
not consecrate,  we  cannot  hallow  this  ground.  The 
brave  men,  living  and  dead,  who  struggled  here  have 
consecrated  it  far  above  our  power  to  add  to  or  detract. 
The  world  will  little  note,  nor  long  remember,  what  we 
say  here;   but  it  can  never  forget  what  they  did  here. 


56  Best  Lincoln  Stories 

*  'It  is  for  us,  the  living,  rather  to  be  dedicated  here 
to  the  unfinished  work  which  they  who  fought  here  have 
thus  far  so  nobly  advanced.  It  is  rather  for  us  to  be 
here  dedicated  to  the  great  task  remaining  before  us, 
that  from  these  honored  dead  we  take  increased  devo- 
tion to  that  cause  for  which  they  gave  the  last  full 
measure  of  devotion;  that  we  here  highly  resolve  that 
these  dead  shall  not  have  died  in  vain ;  that  this  nation, 
under  God,  shall  have  a  new  birth  of  freedom,  and  that 
the  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for 
the  people  shall  not  perish  from  the  earth.  *' 

Lincoln  as  a  Ruler. 

Mr.  Henry  Watterson,  the  distinguished  and  schol- 
arly editor  of  the  widely-read  Louisville  Courier  Journal, 
once  delivered  a  lecture  on  "Lincoln. "  The  following 
is  part  of  what  he  said: 

*' After  he  was  inaugurated  President,  Mr.  Lincoln 
evinced  four  great  qualities  of  mind  and  heart  so  great 
indeed  that  it  is  doubtful  if  such  a  combination  of  kingly 
talents  was  ever  before  or  since  concentrated  in  the 
same  man.'*  Mr.  Watterson  then  elaborated  from 
historical  facts,  incidents,  and  conclusions,  as  also  from 
quotations  from  Mr.  Lincoln's  speeches  and  letters, 
his  direction  and  management  of  generals  and  cabinet 
officers,  his  knowledge  of  law,  diplomacy,  and  military 
affairs,  his  firmness  for  the  right,  his  great  kindness  of 
heart,  and  love  of  humanity,  the  following  propositions: 

1.  Lincoln  was  the  wisest  ruler  of  this  or  any  other 
age. 


Tersely  Told.  57 

2.  He  had  the  firmness  of  the  everlasting  hills. 

3.  His  love  of  justice  and  righteousness  between 
man  and  man,  and  between  nations  guided  him  in  all 
things. 

4.  His  kindness  of  heart,  and  his  sympathies  for 
mankind  were  an  overflowing  fountain. 

5.  Abraham  Lincoln  was  raised  up  of  God,  and 
in  a  sense  inspired  for  the  place  and  work  he  fulfilled  in 
the  world. 

*  'Perhaps  the  most  striking  illustration  of  superior 
wisdom  and  power  as  a  ruler, "  said  the  speaker,  "was 
his  reply  to  Mr.  Seward's  proposition  to  declare  war 
against  France  and  Spain,  and  impliedly  against  Eng- 
land and  Russia,  only  one  month  after  Lincoln's  inaugu- 
ration. The  reply  was  complete;  so  was  his  mastery 
over  the  most  astute  and  scholarly  statesman  and  diplo- 
matist of  the  age.  While  preparing  that  reply,  the 
same  night  after  receiving  Mr.  Seward's  wonderful 
proposals, — a  reply  which  the  best  critics  of  the  world 
have  declared  needed  not  another  word,  and  would  not 
have  been  complete  with  one  word  lacking, — he  was 
overheard  repeating  to  himself,  audibly  over  and  over, 
'One  war  at  a  time,  one  war  at  a  time,  one  v/ar  at  a 
time.'" 


Lincoln*s  Real  Object  in  Conducting  the  War. 

The  great  Horace  Greeley  was  wont  to  criticize 
Lincoln's  plan  of  conducting  the  war.  He  finally 
wanted  to  know  "what  were  the  purposes  and  aims  of 
the  President,  anyway?"    The  following  is  Lincoln's 


58  Best  Lincoln  Stories 

reply,  showing  that  his  sole  purpose  was  to  save  the 
Union  at  whatever  cost. 

*'If  there  be  those  who  would  not  save  the  Union 
unless  they  could  at  the  same  time  save  slavery,  I  do 
not  agree  with  them.  If  there  be  those  who  would  not 
save  the  Union  unless  they  could  at  the  same  time  de- 
stroy slavery,  I  do  not  agree  with  them.  My  para- 
mount object  is  to  save  the  Union,  and  not  either  to 
save  or  destroy  slavery.  If  I  could  save  the  Union 
without  freeing  any  slave,  I  would  do  it.  If  I  could  save 
it  by  freeing  all  the  slaves,  I  would  do  it,  and  if  I  could 
do  it  by  freeing  some  and  leaving  others  alone,  I 
would  also  do  that.  What  I  do  about  slavery  and  the 
colored  race  I  do  because  I  beUeve  it  helps  to  save  the 
Union,  and  what  I  forbear  I  forbear  because  I  do  not 
believe  it  helps  to  save  the  Union.  I  shall  do  less 
whenever  I  shall  believe  that  what  I  am  doing  hurts  the 
cause,  and  I  shall  do  more  whenever  I  believe  doing 
more  will  help  the  cause. " 


Lincoln  Asked  for  Some  of  Grant's  Whisky. 

When  officious  intermeddlers  went  to  President 
Lincoln  and  demanded  Gen.  Grant's  removal  from 
the  command  of  the  armies,  charging  that  he  was  in 
the  habit  of  getting  dnmk,  Lincoln  cooly  asked  them 
where  he  could  get  some  of  the  brand  of  whisky  that 
Grant  was  using;  he  wanted  to  supply  it  to  his  other 
generals.  This  remark  of  his  silenced  his  callers,  and 
he  heard  no  more  complaints  about  Grant  getting 
drunk. 


Tersely  Told.  59 

Lincoln  Believed  Himself  Ugly. 

Mrs.  Benjamin  Price,  of  Baltimore,  told,  at  a 
meeting  of  the  Woman's  Literary  Club  of  that  city, 
two  anecdotes  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  In  one  of  them 
she  said  that  her  father-in-law  had  at  one  time  been 
appointed  to  a  government  position  in  place  of  Mr. 
Addison,  who  was  a  most  polished  but  notably  plain- 
featured  man.  The  two  gentlemen  went  together  to 
call  upon  President  Lincoln,  who  received  them  cheer- 
f uhy  in  the  midst  of  the  somewhat  embarrassing  opera- 
tion of  shaving.  His  face  was  a  lather  of  soap,  he 
extended  a  hand  to  each,  and  upon  Mr.  Addison  enum- 
erating the  good  qualities  of  his  successor,  and  con- 
gratulating the  President  upon  securing  so  eminent  an 
officer,  Mr.  Lincoln  exclaimed: 

*'Yes,  Addison,  I  have  no  doubt  Mr.  Price  is  all 
that  you  say,  but  nothing  can  compensate  me  for  the 
loss  of  you,  for  when  you  retire  I  shall  be  the  homeliest 
man  in  the  employment  of  the  government. " 


Lincoln's  Kindness  to  a  Disabled  Soldier. 

One  summer  morning,  shortly  before  the  close  of  the 
civil  war,  the  not  unusual  sight  in  Washington  of  an 
old  veteran  hobbling  along  could  have  been  seen  on  a 
shady  path  that  led  from  the  executive  mansion  to  the 
war  office.  The  old  man  was  in  pain,  and  the  pale, 
simken  cheeks  and  vague,  far-away  stare  in  his  eyes 
betokened  a  short-lived  existence.  He  halted  a  mo- 
ment and  then  slowly  approached  a  tall  gentleman  who 


60  Best  Lincoln  Stories 

was  walking  along.  "Good  morning,  sir.^  I  am  an 
old  soldier  and  would  like  to  ask  your  advice.  '\ 

The  gentleman  turned,  and  smiling  kindly,  invited 
the  poor  old  veteran  to  a  seat  imder  a  shady  treee. 
There  he  listened  to  the  man's  story  of  how  he  had 
fought  for  the  Union  and  was  severely  wounded,  in- 
capacitating him  for  other  work  in  life,  and  begged 
directions  how  to  apply  for  back  pay  due  him  and  a 
pension,  offering  his  papers  for  exanimation. 

The  gentleman  looked  over  the  papers  and  then 
took  out  a  card  and  wrote  directions  on  it,  also  a  few 
words  to  the  pension  bureau,  desiring  that  speedy  at- 
tention be  given  to  the  appHcant,  and  handed  it  to  him. 

The  old  soldier  looked  at  it,  and  with  tears  in  his 
eyes  thanked  the  tall  gentleman,  who,  with  a  sad  look, 
bade  him  good  luck  and  hurried  up  the  walk.  Slowly 
the  old  soldier  read  the  card  again,  and  then  turned  it 
over  to  read  the  name  of  the  owner.  More  tears  welled 
in  his  eyes  when  he  knew  whom  he  had  addressed 
himself  to,  and  his  Hps  muttered:  "  I  am  glad  I  fought 
for  him  and  the  country,  for  he  never  forgets.  God 
bless  Abraham  Lincohi!" 

A  Sample  of  Lincoln's  Statesmanship. 

President  Lincoln,  the  man  who  said  and  did  so 
many  kindly  things,  taught  Seward  how  to  write  state 
papers.  He  was  not  only  master  of  the  situation 
in  this  country,  but  when  England  and  France  were 
about  combining  to  recognize  the  Confederacy,  he  so 
won  the  admiration  of  Lord  Lyon,  the  British  ambas- 


Tersely  Told.  61 

sador  at  Washington,  that  that  official  informed  Lord 
Russell  that  he  was  in  error  when  he  sent  instructions 
to  prepare  the  government  for  the  recognition  of  the 
South  by  England,  and  Lord  Lyon  afterward  resigned 
his  office  in  consequence  of  the  opposition  to  Lincoln. 
At  that  time  there  was  a  Russian  fleet  in  New  York 
harbor  imder  sealed  instructions,  to  be  opened  when 
France  and  England  made  their  move,  and  the  instruc- 
tions were  afterward  foimd  to  be  a  command  to  the 
admiral  to  report  to  his  excellency,  President  Lincoln. 

Two  Good  Stories. 

At  a  cabinet  meeting  once,  the  advisability  of  put- 
ting a  legend  on  greenbacks  similar  to  the  In  God  We 
Trust  legend  on  the  silver  coins  was  discussed,  and  the 
President  was  asked  what  his  view  was.  He  replied: 
If  you  are  going  to  put  a  legend  on  the  greenbacks  I 
would  suggest  that  of  Peter  and  Paul:  "Silver  and 
gold  we  have  not,  but  what  we  have  we'll  give  you. " 

On  another  occasion  when  Mr.  Lincoln  was  going 
to  attend  a  political  convention  one  of  his  rivals,  a 
Hverjnnan,  provided  him  with  a  slow  horse,  hoping 
that  he  would  not  reach  his  destination  in  time.  Mr. 
Lincoln  got  there,  however,  and  when  he  returned  with 
the  horse,  he  said:  '*  You  keep  this  horse  for  funerals, 
don't  you?" 

''Oh,  no, "  replied  the  liveryman.  "Well,  I'm  glad 
of  that,  for  if  you  did  you'd  never  get  a  corpse  to  the 
grave  in  time  for  the  resurrection. " 


62  Best  Lincoln  Stories 

Lincoln  Raises   a  Warning  Voice  Against  the 
Concentration  of  Great  Wealth, 

''  Liberty  cannot  long  endure, "  said  Webster,  "when 
the  tendency  is  to  concentrate  wealth  in  the  hands  of  a 
few.'' 

President  Lincoln,  in  a  message  to  Congress,  said 
of  this  danger:  *' Monarchy  itself  is  sometimes  hinted 
at  as  a  possible  refuge  from  the  power  of  the  people. 
In  my  present  position  I  could  scarcely  be  justified 
were  I  to  omit  raising  a  warning  voice  against  approach- 
ing despotism.  There  is  one  point  to  which  I  ask  a 
brief  attention.  It  is  the  effort  to  place  capital  on  an 
equal  footing  with,  if  not  above,  labor,  in  the  structure 
of  the  government.  Let  them  beware  of  surrendering  a 
political  power  which  they  already  have,  and  which 
if  surrendered  will  surely  be  used  to  close  the  door  of 
advancement  against  such  as  they,  and  to  fix  new  dis- 
abilities and  burdens  upon  them  till  all  liberty  shall 
be  lost." 


Lincoln  and  the  Dying  Soldier  Boy. 

One  day  in  May,  1863,  while  the  great  war  was 
raging  between  the  North  and  South,  President  Lin- 
coln paid  a  visit  to  one  of  the  miUtary  hospitals,  says 
an  exchange.  He  had  spoken  many  cheering  words 
of  sympathy  to  the  woimded  as  he  proceeded  through 
the  various  wards,  and  now  he  was  at  the  bedside  of  a 
Vermont  boy  of  about  sixteen  years  of  age,  who  lay 
there  mortally  wounded. 


Tersely  Told.  63 

Taking  the  dying  boy's  thin,  white  hands  in  his 
own,  the  President  said,  in  a  tender  tone : 

''Well,  my  poor  boy,  what  can  I  do  for  you?" 

The  young  fellow  looked  up  into  the  President's 
kindly  face  and  asked:  ''Won't  you  write  to  my 
mother  for  me?  " 

"That  I  will,"  answered  Mr.  Lincoln;  and  calling 
for  a  pen,  ink  and  paper,  he  seated  himself  by  the  side 
of  the  bed  and  wrote  from  the  boy's  dictation.  It  was 
a  long  letter,  but  the  President  betrayed  no  sign  of 
weariness.    When  it  was  finished,  he  rose,  saying: 

"I  will  post  this  as  soon  as  I  get  back  to  my  office. 
Now,  is  there  anything  else  I  can  do  for  you?" 

The  boy  looked  up  appealingly  to  the  President. 

"Won't  you  stay  with  me?"  he  asked.  "I  do  want 
to  hold  on  to  your  hand. " 

Mr.  Lincoln  at  once  perceived  the  lad's  meaning. 
The  appeal  was  too  strong  for  him  to  resist;  so  he  sat 
down  by  his  side  and  took  hold  of  his  hand.  For  two 
hours  the  President  sat  there  patiently  as  though  he 
had  been  the  boy's  father. 

^  When  the  end  came  he  bent  over  and  folded  the 
thin  hands  over  his  breast.  As  he  did  so  he  burst  into 
tears,  and  when,  soon  afterward,  he  left  the  hospital, 
they  were  still  streaming  down  his  cheeks. 


The  Dandy,  the  Bugs  and  the  President. 

President  Lincoln  appointed  as  consul  to  a  South 
American  country  a  young  man  from  Ohio  who  was  a 
dandy.    A  wag  met  the  new  appointee  on  his  way  to 


64  Best  Lincoln  Stories 

the  White  House  to  thank  the  President.  He  was 
dressed  in  the  most  extravagant  style.  The  wag  hor- 
rified him  by  telling  him  that  the  country  to  which  he 
was  assigned  was  noted  chiefly  for  the  bugs  that  abound- 
ed there  and  made  life  unbearable. 

*' They'll  bore  a  hole  clean  through  you  before  a 
week  has  pased, "  was  the  comforting  assurance  of  the 
wag  as  they  parted  at  the  White  House  steps.  The 
new  consul  approached  Lincoln  with  disappointment 
clearly  written  all  over  his  face.  Instead  of  joyously 
thanking  the  President,  he  told  him  the  wag's  story 
of  the  bugs.  "I  am  informed,  Mr.  President,"  he 
said,  *'that  the  place  is  full  of  vermin  and  that  they 
could  eat  me  up  in  a  week's  time."  ''Well,  j^oimg 
man,"  replied  Lincoln,  "if  that's  true  all  I've  got  to 
say  is  that  if  such  a  thing  happened  they  would  leave 
a  mighty  good  suit  of  clothes  behind. " 

Lincoln  Upheld  the  Hands  of  General  Grant. 

In  his  ''  Campaigning  With  Grant, "  in  the  Century, 
Gen.  Horace  Porter  told  of  Gen.   Halleck's  fear  of 
trouble  from  enforcing  of  the  draft,  and  his  desire  that 
Grant  should  send  troops  to  the  Northern  cities.     Gen. 
Porter  says: 

On  the  evening  of  August  17,  General  Grant  was 
sitting  in  front  of  his  quarters,  with  several  staff  officers 
about  him,  when  the  telegraph  operator  came  over  from 
his  tent  and  handed  him  a  dispatch.  He  opened  it,  and 
as  he  proceeded  with  the  reading  of  it  his  face  became 
suffused  with  smiles.    After  he  had  finished  it  he  broke 


Tersely  Told.  65 

into  a  hearty  laugh.  We  were  curious  to  know  what 
could  produce  so  much  merriment  in  the  General  in  the 
midst  of  the  trying  circumstances  which  surrounded 
him.  He  cast  his  eyes  over  the  dispatch  again,  and 
then  remarked:  ^'The  President  has  more  nerve  than 
any  of  his  advisers.  This  is  what  he  says  after  read- 
ing my  reply  to  Halleck's  dispatch.  '^  He  then  read 
aloud  to  us  the  following: 

''I  have  seen  your  dispatch  expressing  your  unwil- 
lingness to  break  your  hold  where  we  are.  Neither 
am  I  willing.  Hold  on  with  a  bulldog  grip  and  chew 
and  choke  as  much  as  possible. 

*'A.  LINCOLN." 


Why  Lincoln  Told  Stories. 

Mr.  Edward  Rosewater,  editor  of  the  Omaha  Bee, 
said  he  beheved  Lincoln  got  relaxation  by  his  story 
telling,  and  that  the  hearing  of  a  good  story  gave  him 
the  mental  rest  that  he  so  m.uch  needed  during  those 
brain-taxing  days.  These  stories  came  out  imder  the 
most  trying  circimistances  and  at  the  most  solemn 
times.  A  striking  instance  of  this  was  just  after  the 
battle  of  Fredericksburg.  After  the  Union  armies  were 
defeated  an  official  who  had  seen  the  battle  hiuried 
to  Washington.  He  reached  there  about  midnight; 
and  went  directly  to  the  White  House.  President 
Lincoln  had  not  yet  retired,  and  the  man  was  at  once 
received.  Lincoln  had  already  heard  some  reports  of 
the  battle.     He  was  feehng  very  sad  and  rested  his 


66  Best  Lincoln  Stories 

head  upon  his  hands  while  the  story  was  repeated  to 
him .    As  the  man  saw  his  intense  suffering  he  remarked : 

"  I  wish,  Mr  President,  that  I  might  be  a  messenger 
of  good  news  instead  of  bad.  I  wish  I  could  tell  you 
how  to  conquer  or  get  rid  of  those  rebelHous  States." 

At  this  President  Lincoln  looked  up  and  a  smile 
came  across  his  face  as  he  said:  '' That  reminds  me  of 
two  boys  out  in  Illinois  who  took  a  short  cut  across 
an  orchard.  When  they  were  in  the  middle  of  the 
field  they  saw  a  vicious  dog  boimding  toward  them. 
One  of  the  boys  was  sly  enough  to  climb  a  tree,  but 
the  other  ran  around  the  tree  with  the  dog  following. 
He  kept  running  until,  by  making  smaller  circles  than 
it  was  possible  for  his  pursuer  to  make,  he  gained  upon 
the  dog  sufficiently  to  grasp  his  tail.  He  held  on  to  the 
tail  with  a  desperate  grip  until  nearly  exhausted,  when 
he  called  to  the  boy  up  the  tree  to  come  down  and  help. 

"What  for?"  said  the  boy. 

"I  want  you  to  help  me  let  this  dog  go. "  ^ 

*'Now, "  concluded  President  Lincoln,  *'if'l  could 
only  let  the  rebel  States  go  it  would  be  all  right.  But 
I  am  compelled  to  hold  on  to  them  and  make  them 
stay." 


Lincoln  Awards  a  Man  for  Kindness  Thirty  Years 
After  the  Occurrence. 

Lincoln's  indebtedness,  in  consequence  of  the  clos- 
ing out  of  his  general  store  at  New  Salem,  was  such  that 
it  took  him  many  years  to  extinguish  all.  There  was 
one  man  among  his  creditors  who  would  not  wait, 


Tersely  Told.  67 

but  secured  a  judgment  against  Lincoln  and  his  per- 
sonal effects  were  levied  upon.  Among  them  was  his 
surveying  instruments  on  which  he  depended  for  his 
.living.  At  the  sale  a  farmer  friend  of  Lincoln's  named 
James  Short  bought  the  horse  and  surveying  instru- 
ments for  $120  and  generously  turned  them  over  to 
their  former  owner.  This  kindness  deeply  touched  the 
future  President  of  the  United  States,  who,  some  years 
later,  repaid  with  interest  the  money  so  kindly  ad- 
vanced by  Mr.  Short. 

Thirty  years  later,  while  Lincoln  was  President,  he 
heard  that  James  Short  was  living  in  CaHfomia.  Fi- 
nancial reverses  had  overtaken  him  some  years  pre- 
viously and  he  left  his  home  near  New  Salem  and 
emigrated  with  his  family  to  the  State  on  the  Pacific 
Ocean.  One  day  Mr.  Short  received  a  letter  from 
Washington  informing  him  that  he  had  been  appointed 
an  Indian  agent.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  Lincoln 
never  forgot  a  benefactor. 


Lincoln  a  Merciful  Man, 

Abraham  Lincoln  had  a  heart  that  was  full  of 
mercy;  he  could  not  bear  to  see  even  an  animal  suffer, 
and  would  not  tolerate  any  wanton  cruelty  to  animals. 
There  are  numerous  instances  of  his  mercifulness,  but 
the  following  story  will  serve  to  show  how  kindly  dis- 
posed the  man  was: 

One  day  the  major-general  commanding  the  forces 
in  and  aroimd  Washington,  came  to  the  office  of  Mr. 
Dana  with  a  spy  whom  one  of  his  men  had  captured. 


68  Best  Lincoln  Stories 

Mr.  Dana  was  assistant  secretary  of  war.  The  officer 
informed  Mr.  Dana  that  the  spy  had  been  tried  by 
court  martial  and  had  been  sentenced  to  death.  He 
handed  Mr.  Dana  the  warrant  for  his  execution,  which 
was  to  take  place  at  six  o'clock  the  following  morning. 
The  warrant  must  be  signed  by  the  President,  or  in  his 
absence,  by  some  officer  with  authority  to  sign  it.  Presi- 
dent Lincoln  was  absent  from  Washington  at  that  tim.e 
and  was  not  expected  back  before  the  afternoon  of  the 
next  day.  It  therefore  became  necessary  for  Mr. 
Dana  to  sign  the  warrant  for  the  execution  of  the  spy, 
in  accordance  with  the  decision  of  the  court.  But 
President  Lincoln  got  home  at  two  o'clock  in  the  early 
morning  and  on  learning  of  the  affair  at  once  stopped 
the  whole  thing  and  thus  spared  the  man's  life.  It 
may  be  here  stated  that  the  law  of  nations  in  regard 
to  the  pimishment  of  spies  when  captured  is  death. 


Lincoln's  Humorous  Advice  to  a  Distinguished 

Bachelor. 

When  the  Prince  of  Wales  was  betrothed  to  the 
Princess  Alexandria,  Queen  Victoria  sent  a  letter  to 
every  sovereign  of  Europe,  and  to  President  Lincoln, 
announcing  the  fact.  The  ambassador  of  England 
then  at  Washington  was  Lord  Lyons,  and  he  was  a 
bachelor.  He  requested  an  audience  with  President 
Lincoln  in  order  that  he  might  present  the  important 
letter  in  person. 


Tersely  Told,  69 

He  called  at  the  White  House  in  company  with 
Secretary  Seward  and  addressed  the  President  as 
follows : 

**May  it  please  your  Excellency,  I  hold  in  my  hand 
an  autograph  letter  from  my  royal  mistress  Queen 
Victoria,  which  I  have  been  commanded  to  present  to 
yoiu"  Excellency.  In  it  she  informs  your  Excellency 
that  her  son,  his  Royal  Highness  the  Prince  of  Wales, 
is  about  to  contract  a  matrimonial  alliance  with  her 
Royal  Highness  the  Princess  Alexandria  of  Denmark. " 

After  the  use  of  such  diplomatic  and  high-sounding 
language  one  would  naturally  suppose  Lincoln  would 
require  a  few  moments  to  collect  his  thoughts  and  reply 
in  kind.  Not  so,  however.  His  reply  was  short, 
simple  and  expressive,  as  follows: 

*'Lord  Lyons,  go  thou  and  do  likewise. " 

A  witness  of  the  above  incident  said:  ^'  It  is  doubt- 
ful if  an  English  ambassador  was  ever  addressed  in  this 
manner  before,  and  it  would  be  interesting  to  learn 
what  success  he  met  with  in  putting  the  reply  in  diplo- 
matic language,  when  he  reported  it  to  her  Majesty. " 
■ — From  Lincoln  Stories,  by  J.  B.  McClure. 

How  Lincoln  Answered  a  Delicate  Question. 

At  the  time  when  the  Union  soldiers  were  htmting 
for  Jeff  Davis,  some  one  asked  the  President:  *'Mr. 
Lincoln,  suppose  they  were  to  find  Davis,  and,  in  order 
to  capture  him,  it  was  necessary  to  shoot  him.  Would 
you  want  them  to  do  so?  ** 


70        ^  Best  Lincoln  Stories 

Mr.  Lincoln  said:  *'When  I  was  a  boy,  a  man 
lecturing  on  temperance  stayed  at  our  house  over 
night.  It  was  a  cold,  stormy  night,  and  the  man  was 
quite  chilled  when  he  reached  home  after  the  meeting. 
He  said  if  they  would  give  him  a  hot  lemonade  he 
thought  it  would  prevent  his  taking  cold.  Some  one 
suggested  that  some  spirits  added  w^ould  be  beneficial. 
'Well,'  he  said,  'you  might  put  in  some  imbeknownst 
tome!''' 


Lincoln  Illustrates  a  Case  Humorously. 

On  one  occasion,  exasperated  at  the  discrepancy 
between  the  aggregate  of  troops  forwarded  to  McClellan 
and  the  number  the  same  general  reported  as  having 
received,  Lincoln  exclaimed,  "Sending  men  to  that 
army  is  like  shoveling  fleas  across  a  barnyard — half 
of  them  never  get  there. " 

To  a  politician  who  had  criticized  his  course,  he 
wrote,  ''Would  you  have  me  drop  the  war  where  it  is, 
or  would  you  prosecute  it  in  future  with  elder  stalk 
sqmrts  charged  with  rosewater?" 

When,  on  his  first  arrival  in  Washington  as  Presi- 
dent, he  found  himself  besieged  by  office  seekers,  while 
the  war  was  breaking  out,  he  said,  "I  feel  like  a  man 
letting  lodgings  at  one  end  of  the  house  while  the  other 
end  is  on  fire. " 


Tersely  Told.  71 

Why  Lincoln  Mistook  a  Driver  To  Be  an 
Episcopalian. 

The  first  corps  of  the  army  commanded  by  General 
RejTiolds  was  once  reviewed  by  the  President  on  a 
beautiful  plain  at  the  north  of  Potomac  Creek,  about 
eight  miles  from  Hooker's  headquarters.  The  party 
rode  thither  in  an  ambulance  over  a  rough,  corduroy 
road,  and  as  they  passed  over  some  of  the  more  diffi- 
cult portions  of  the  jolting  way  the  ambulance  driver, 
who  sat  well  in  front,  occasionally  let  fly  a  volley  of 
suppressed  oaths  at  his  wild  team  of  six  mules. 

Finally,  Mr.  Lincoln,  leaning  forward,  touched  the 
man  on  the  shoulder,  and  said: 

*^ Excuse  me,  my  friend,  are  you  an  Episcopalian?" 
The  man  greatly  startled,  looked  around  and  re- 
plied: 

*'No,  Mr.  President;   I  am  a  Methodist." 
*'Well, "  said  Lincoln,  "I  thought  you  must  be  an 
Episcopalian,  because  you  swear  just  like  Governor 
Seward,  who  is  a  church  warden. " 


A  Clergyman  Who  Talked  But  Little. 

A  clergyman  of  some  prominence  was  one  day 

presented  to  Lincoln,  who  gave  the  visitor  a  chair  and 

said,  with  an  air  of  patient  waiting: 

^'I  am  now  ready  to  hear  what  you  have  to  say. " 
"Oh,  bless  you,  sir,"  replied  the  clergyman,   *'I 

have  nothing  special  to  say.     I  merely  called  to  pay 

my  respects." 


72  Best  Lincoln  Stories 

"My  dear  sir, "  said  the  President,  rising  promptly, 
his  face  sho^vdng  instant  relief,  and  with  both  hands 
grasping  that  of  his  visitor;  *'I  am  very  glad  to  see 
you,  indeed.  It  is  a  relief  to  find  a  clergyman,  or  any 
other  man  for  that  matter,  who  has  nothing  to  say. 
I  thought  you  had  come  to  preach  to  me.  '* 


How  Lincoln  Received  a  Jackknife  as  a  Present. 

Considering  his  own  personality  Lincoln  was  very 
indifferent.  He  was  perfectly  aware  that  many  peo- 
ple talked  about  his  ''awkwardness"  and  homely  per- 
sonal appearance.  Far  from  feeling  hurt  at  the  re- 
marks occasionally  flung  at  him  he  rather  enjoyed  them. 

One  day  he  was  traveling  in  a  train.  He  was 
addressed,  without  any  formal  introduction,  by  a 
stranger  in  the  car,  who  said: 

*' Excuse  me,  sir,  but  I  have  an  article  in  my  pos- 
session which  belongs  to  you. " 

"How  is  that?"  Lincoln  inquired,  much  surprised. 

The  stranger  took  a  jackknife  from  his  pocket. 

"This  knife,"  said  he,  "was  placed  in  my  hands 
some  years  ago,  with  the  injunction  that  I  was  to  keep 
it  until  I  found  a  man  uglier  than  myself.  I  have 
carried  it  from  that  time  to  this.  Allov/  me  to  say  now, 
sir,  that  I  think  you  are  fairly  entitled  to  the  property." 

Lincoln  related  the  above  story  to  his  friends  again 
and  again  during  his  lifetime. — From  Lincoln's  Stories, 
by  J.  B.  McClure. 


Tersely  Told.  73 

The  Best  Car  for  His  Corpse. 

Lincoln  had  the  following  good  story  on  President 
Tyler: 

"During  Mr.  Tyler's  incumbency  of  the  office  he 
arranged  to  make  an  excursion  in  some  direction  and 
sent  his  son  'Bob'  to  arrange  for  a  special  train.  It 
happened  that  the  railroad  superintendent  was  a  strong 
Whig.  As  such  he  had  no  favors  to  bestow  upon  the 
President  and  informed  Bob  that  the  road  did  not 
run  any  special  trains  for  the  President. 

"  'What,'  said  Bob  Tyler,  'did  you  not  furnish  a 
special  for  the  fimeral  of  Gen.  Harrison?' 

"  'Yes,'  said  the  superintendent,  *and  if  you'll 
bring  your  father  in  that  condition  you  shall  have  the 
best  train  on  the  road. '  '* 


His  Title  Did  Not  Help  Any. 

During  the  war  an  Austrian  coimt  applied  to  Presi- 
dent Lincoln  for  a  position  in  the  army.  He  was  in- 
troduced by  the  Austrian  Minister,  but  as  if  fearing 
that  his  importance  might  not  be  duly  appreciated,  he 
proceeded  to  explain  his  nobility  and  high  standing. 
With  a  merry  twinkle  in  his  eye,  Mr.  Lincoln  laid  his 
hand  on  the  coimt's  shoulder  and  said: 

"Never  mind;  you  shall  be  treated  with  just  as 
much  consideration  for  all  that." 


74  Best  Lincoln  Stories 

One  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  Autographs. 

Abraham  Lincoln  once  received  a  letter  asking  for 
a  * '  sentiment ' '  and  his  autograph.  He  replied :  ' '  Dear 
Madam:  When  you  ask  a  stranger  for  that  which  is 
of  interest  only  to  yourself  always  enclose  a  stamp. 
Abraham  Lincoln. " 


Lincoln's  Substitute. 

It  is  not  generally  known  that  Abraham  Lincoln 
sent  a  substitute  to  the  war  against  the  South,  but 
such  is  a  fact.  During  the  earlier  days  of  the  war  it 
seems  to  have  been  the  desire  of  all  prominent  men  in 
Washington  to  have  a  representative  in  the  ranks,  and 
Lincoln  was  no  exception  to  the  rule.  At  that  time 
there  was  a  minister  named  Staples  in  Washington, 
one  of  whose  sons,  then  aged  nineteen,  had  a  desire 
to  go  to  the  front.  Lincoln  heard  of  him,  and  after 
a  conference  selected  him  as  his  representative,  and 
he  proved  worthy,  for  he  won  honor  on  the  field.  He 
survived  the  war  and  finally  died  in  Stroudsburg. 
The  inscription  on  the  stone  over  liis  grave  reads  as 
follows:  *'J.  Summerfield  Staples,  a  private  of  Com- 
pany, C,  One  Hundred  and  Seventy-sixth  Regiment, 
P.  V.  Also  a  member  of  the  Second  regiment,  D.  C. 
Vols.,  as  a  substitute  for  Abraham  Lincoln." — Phila- 
delphia Record. 


Tersely  Told.  75 

~ y 

Lincoln's  Estimate  of  the  Financial  Standing  of  a 

Neighbor. 

A  New  York  firm  applied  to  Abraham  Lincoln 
some  years  before  he  became  President  for  information 
as  to  the  financial  standing  of  one  of  his  neighbors. 
Mr.  Lincoln  repHed: 

"I  am  weU  acquainted  with  Mr. ,  and  know 

his  circumstances.  First  of  all,  he  has  a  vnie  and  baby 
together  they  ought  to  be  worth  850,000  to  any  man. 
Secondly,  he  has  an  office  in  which  there  is  a  table 
worth,  say  SI. 50,  and  3  chairs  worth,  say  SI. 00.  Last 
of  all,  there  is  in  one  comer  a  large  rat  hole,  which  will 
bear  looking  into. _ Respectfully ,  A.  Lincoln." 


Lincoln's  Query  Puzzled  the  Man. 

At  a  time  when  the  war  crisis  was  at  its  height  one 
of  those  persons  who  were  ever  ready  to  give  the  Presi- 
dent free  advice  on  how  to  conduct  the  war,  had  just 
finished  explaining  an  elaborate  idea,  when  Mr.  Lin- 
coln remarked: 

''That  reminds  me  of  a  man  in  Illinois,  who,  in 
driving  the  hoops  of  a  hogshead  to  'head  it  up,'  was 
much  annoyed  by  the  constant  falling  in  of  the  top. 
At  length  a  bright  idea  struck  him  of  putting  his  little 
boy  inside  to  hold  it  up.  This  he  did.  But  when 
the  job  was  completed  there  arose  the  more  serious 
question,  how  to  get  the  boy  out  of  the  hogshead. 
Your  plan  sounds  feasible,  but  how  are  you  to  get  the 
boy  out?" 


76  Best  Lincoln  Stories 

Lincoln's  Inauguration. 

In  the  March  '' Ladies'  Home  Journal"  Stephen 
Fiske  graphically  recalls  the  excitement  and  apprehen- 
sion and  the  condition  of  the  country  ''When  Lincoln 
Was  First  Inaugurated. "  He  tells  the  incident  of  the 
memorable  joiurney  to  the  capital,  of  Mr.  Lincoln's 
reception,  and  gives  a  rather  grewsome  picture  of  the 
inaugural  ceremonies.  *' As  I  walked  up  to  the  capitol 
the  wide,  dusty  streets  were  already  crowded,'*  he 
writes;  *' regular  troops  were  posted  at  intervals  along 
Pennsylvania  avenue.  Sharpshooters  were  climbing 
over  the  roofs  of  the  houses.  A  mounted  officer  at 
every  comer  was  ready  to  report  to  General  Scott  the 
passage  of  the  procession.  Detectives  in  plain  clothes 
squirmed  through  the  m^asses  of  people.  The  poHce- 
men  had  been  instructed  to  arrest  for  'disorderly  con- 
duct' any  person  who  called  Mr.  Lincoln  an  opprobrious 
name  or  uttered  a  disloyal  sentiment.  There  was 
much  suppressed  excitement;  and  the  prophetic  word 
'assassination'  was  in  every  mind. 

''President  Buchanan,  whose  term  expired  at  noon, 
was  engaged  vmtil  half  an  hour  later  in  signing  the  bills 
that  had  been  hurriedly  passed,  but  the  congressional 
clock  had  been  put  back  to  legalize  the  transaction. 
At  last  he  drove  down  to  Willard's,  and  the  procession 
was  formed.  The  President  and  President-elect  rode 
in  an  open  barouche ;  but  this  confidence  in  the  people 
was  more  apparent  than  real.  On  the  front  seat  were 
Senators  Baker  and  Pearce;  a  guard  of  honor  of  the 
regxdar  cavalry  siurrounded  the  carriage;   beyond  were 


Tersely  Told,  77 

mounted  marshals  four  files  deep.  From  the  side- 
walks no  one  could  accurately  distinguish  Mr.  Lin- 
coln. Close  behind  marched  regiments  of  regulars 
and  marines,  fully  armed.  It  seemed  more  like  es- 
corting a  prisoner  to  his  doom  than  a  President  to  his 
inauguration.  Little  cheering  and  no  enthusiasm'  greeted 
the  procession.  Every  now  and  then  an  arrest  for 
'disorderly  conduct*  was  quickly  and  quietly  made 
in  the  crowd.  The  sunshine  was  bright,  but  the  whole 
affair  was  as  gloomy  as  if  Mr.  Lincoln  were  riding 
through  an  enemy's  country — as,  indeed,  he  was. " 


John  Sherman's  First  Meeting  with  Lincohi. 

Secretary  Sherman  says  he  never  will  forget  his 
first  meeting  with  a  President.  It  was  shortly  after 
Lincoln's  inauguration,  and  he  attended  a  public  re- 
ception, feU  into  Hne,  and  awaited  an  hour  or  two  for  a 
chance  to  shake  hands  with  the  Great  Emancipator. 

*'Dxiring  this  time,"  says  Mr.  Sherman,  "I  was 
wondering  what  I  should  say  and  what  Lincoln  would 
do  when  we  met.  At  last  it  came  my  turn  to  be  pre- 
sented. Lincoln  looked  at  me  a  moment,  extended 
his  hand  and  said:  'You're  a  pretty  tall  fellow,  aren't 
you?  Stand  up  here  with  me,  back  to  back,  and  let's 
see  which  is  the  taller.* 

"In  another  moment  I  was  standing  back  to  back 
with  the  greatest  man  of  his  age.  Naturally  I  was 
quite  abashed  by  this  unexpected  evidence  of  democ- 
racy. 


78  Best  Lincoln  Stories 

"*  You're  from  the  West,  aren't  you?*  inquired 
Lincoln. 

^' '  My  home  is  in  Ohio,'  I  replied. 

"'I  thought  so,'  he  said;  'that's  the  kind  of  men 
they  raise  out  there. ' " 

Lincoln  and  the  SentineL 

A  slight  variation  of  the  traditional  sentry  story  is 
related  by  C.  C.  Buel,  in  the  current  Century.  It  was 
a  cold,  blusterous  winter  night.    Says  Mr.  Buel: 

*'Mr.  Lincoln  emerged  from  the  front  door,  his 
lank  figure  bent  over  as  he  drew  tightly  about  his 
shoulders  the  shawl  which  he  employed  for  such  pro- 
tection; for  he  was  on  his  way  to  the  War  Depart- 
ment, at  the  west  comer  of  the  grounds,  where  in  times 
of  battle  he  was  wont  to  get  the  midnight  dispatches 
from  the  field.  As  the  blast  struck  him,  he  thought 
of  the  nimibness  of  the  pacing  sentry,  and  turning  to 
him,  said :  *  Young  man,  you've  got  a  cold  job  to-night ; 
step  inside,  and  stand  guard  there.' 

"*My  orders  keep  me  out  here,'  the  soldier  replied. 

*^*Yes,'  said  the  President,  in  his  argumentative 
tone;  'but  your  duty  can  be  performed  just  as  well 
inside  as  out  here,  and  you'll  obUge  me  by  going  in.' 

***I  have  been  stationed  outside,  'the  soldier  an- 
swered, and  resumed  his  beat. 

'"Hold  on  there!'  said  Mr.  Lincoln,  as  he  turned 
back  again;  'it  occurs  to  me  that  I  am  commander- 
in-chief  of  the  army,  and  I  order  you  to  go  inside. ' " 


Tersely  Told.  79 

Origin  of  "With  Malice  Toward  None,"  Etc. 

It  was  during  Lincoln's  second  inauguration  as 

President  of  the  United  States  that  he  gave  voice  to 

these  famous  and  oft-quoted  words: 

"With  maHce  toward  none,  With  charity  for  all." 
The  above  occur  in  the  last  paragraph  in  his  second 

inaugural  speech,   delivered  at  Waslungton,   D.   C, 

March  4,  1865. 


His  Good  Memory  of  Names. 

The  following  story  illustrates  the  power  of  Mr. 
Lincoln's  memory  of  names  and  faces.  When  he  was 
a  comparatively  young  man  and  a  candidate  for  the 
Illinois  Legislature,  he  made  a  personal  canvass  of  the 
district.  While  ''swinging  arovmd  the  circle"  he 
stopped  one  day  and  took  dinner  with  a  farmer  in 
Sangamon  county. 

Years  afterward,  when  Mr.  Lincoln  had  become 
President,  a  soldier  came  to  call  on  him  at  the  White 
House.  At  the  first  glance  the  Chief  Executive  said: 
*'Yes,  I  remember;  you  used  to  Hve  on  the  Danville 
road.  I  took  dinner  with  you  when  I  was  running  for 
the  Legislature.  I  recollect  that  we  stood  talking  out 
at  the  barnyard  gate,  while  I  sharpened  my  jack-knife." 

"Y-a-a-s,"  drawled  the  soldier;  *'you  did. 
But  say,  wherever  did  you  put  that  whetstone?  I 
looked  for  it  a  dozen  times,  but  I  never  could  find  it 
after  the  day  you  used  it.  We  allowed  as  how  mabby 
you  took  it  'long  with  you. " 


80  Best  Lincoln  Stories 

*'No,"  said  Lincoln,  looking  serious  and  pushing 
away  a  lot  of  documents  of  state  from  the  desk  in  front 
of  him.  ''No,  I  put  it  on  top  of  that  gatepost — that 
high  one. " 

*'Well!"  exclaimed  the  visitor,  *'mabby  you  did. 
Couldn't  anybody  else  have  put  it  there,  and  none  of 
us  ever  thought  of  looking  there  for  it.  " 

The  soldier  was  then  on  his  way  home,  and  when 
he  got  there  the  first  thing  he  did  was  to  look  for  the 
whetstone.  And  sure  enough,  there  it  was,  just  where 
Lincoln  had  laid  it  fifteen  years  before.  The  honest 
fellow  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Chief  Magistrate  telling 
him  that  the  whetstone  had  been  found,  and  would 
never  be  lost  again. 


Lincoln's  Grief  over  the  Defeat  of  the  Union  Army. 

We  had  been  talking  of  the  war,  and  the  late  Gov- 
ernor Curtin,  of  Pennsylvania,  broke  out  suddenly 
and  said: 

''It  was  just  after  the  battle  of  Fredericksburg. 
I  had  been  down  there  and  came  up  to  Washington  by 
the  night  boat.  I  arrived  at  the  foot  of  Seventh  street 
a  little  after  midnight.  Just  as  I  landed  a  messenger 
met  me,  saying  that  the  President  wanted  to  see  me 
at  once  at  the  White  House.  I  took  a  carriage  and 
went  directly  there.  I  sent  in  my  card,  and  v/ord  came 
back  that  the  President  had  retired,  but  that  he  re- 
quested me  to  come  up  to  his  bedroom.  I  found  him 
in  bed,  and  as  I  entered  the  room  he  reached  out  his 
hand,  shook  hands,  and  said: 


Tersely  Told.  81 

*''Well,  Governor;  so  you  have  been  down  to  the 
battle-field? 

** 'Battlefield?  Slaughter-pen!  It  was  a  terrible 
slaughter,  Mr.  Lincoki.'  I  v/as  sorry  in  a  moment, 
that  I  had  said  it,  for  he  groaned,  and  began  to  wring 
his  hands  and  took  on  with  terrible  agony  of  spirits. 
He  sat  up  on  the  edge  of  the  bed,  and  moaned  and 
groaned  in  anguish.  He  walked  the  floor  of  the  room, 
and  uttered  exclamations  of  grief,  one  after  another, 
and  I  remember  his  saying  over  and  over  again:  'What 
has  God  put  me  in  this  place  for?'  I  tried  to  comfort 
him,  and  could  hardly  forgive  myself  for  not  being 
more  careful  and  considerate  of  his  feehngs. " 


Three  Stories  of  Lincoln  by  Senator  Palmer. 

"Speaking  of  Lincoln's  birthday,"  said  Senator 
Palmer  yesterday,  *' reminds  me  that  the  very  last  case 
Lincoln  ever  tried  was  one  in  which  I,  too,  was  engaged. 
It  was  in  Springfield,  in  June,  1860,  after  Mr.  Lincoln 
had  received  the  Presidential  nomination.  Old  David 
Baker,  who  had  been  a  Senator  in  the  early  days,  had 
sued  the  trustees  of  Shurtleff  College,  my  alma  mater, 
for  expelling  his  grandson,  a  lad  named  Will  Gilbert. 
Mr.  Lincoln  appeared  for  the  prosecution.  I  was  the 
college  attorney.  Mr.  Lincoln  came  into  court  and 
the  Judge  said  to  him:  'Mr.  Lincoln,  111  argue  this 
case  for  you.  You  have  too  much  on  your  hands  al- 
ready. You  haven't  any  case.'  And  he  explained  the 
law  and  application. 


82  Best  Lincoln  Stones 

"  'Well,'  said  Mr.  Lincoln,  with  a  smile,  'don't  you 
want  to  hear  a  speech  from  me? ' 

"  'No,'  said  the  Judge,  and  the  last  case  Mr.  Lin- 
coln tried  he — well,  he  didn't  try  it  at  all. 

*'The  first  time  I  met  Mr.  Lincoln  was  in  1839,  when 
I  went  to  Springfield  to  be  admitted  to  the  bar.  He 
was  already  recognized  as  a  Whig  leader  He  wore,  I 
remember,  a  suit  of  linsey  woolsey,  that  could  not  have 
been  worth  more  than  S8  even  in  those  days.  The  last 
time  I  saw  him  was  in  February  of  1865.  I  had  come 
to  Washington  at  the  request  of  the  Governor,  to  com- 
plain that  Illinois  had  been  credited  with  18,000  too 
few  troops.  I  saw  Mr.  Lincoln  one  afternoon  and  he 
asked  me  to  come  again  in  the  morning. 

*'Next  morning  I  sat  in  the  ante-room  while  several 
officers  were  relieved.  At  length  I  was  told  to  enter 
the  President's  room.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  in  the  hands 
of  the  barber. 

" '  Come  in,  Palmer,'  he  called  out,  'come  in.  You're 
home  folks.  I  can  shave  before  you.  I  couldn't  be- 
fore those  others,  and  I  have  to  do  it  some  time.' 

*'We  chatted  about  various  matters,  and  at  length 
I  said: 

"  'Well,  Mr.  Lincoln,  if  anybody  had  told  me  that 
in  a  great  crisis  like  this  the  people  were  going  out  to 
a  little  one-horse  town  and  pick  out  a  one-horse  lawyer 
for  President  I  wouldn't  have  beheved  it.' 

"Mr.  Lincoln  whirled  about  in  his  chair,  his  face 
white  with  lather,  a  towel  under  his  chin.  At  first  I 
thought  he  was  angry.  Sweeping  the  barber  away  he 
leaned  forward,  and  placing  one  hand  on  my  knee  said : 


Tersely  Told,  83 

"  'Neither  would  I.  But  it  was  a  time  when  a  man 
with  a  policy  would  have  been  fatal  to  the  country. 
I  have  never  had  a  policy.  I  have  simply  tried  to  do 
what  seemed  best  each  day,  as  each  day  came. ' 

*' Lincoln  was  not  an  eloquent  man.  He  was  a 
strong  lawyer,  and  an  ingenious  one.  His  stronghold 
was  his  abilit}^  to  reason  logically  and  clearly.  He 
was  a  very  self-contained  man,  and  not  easily  excited. 
I  remember  the  night  when  the  news  of  his  election  was 
received  at  Springfield.  The  patriotic  ladies  of  the 
town  were  serving  a  lunch  in  an  upper  room  opposite 
the  capitol.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  there,  and  read  the  re- 
turns as  they  were  brought  to  him.  The  returns  from 
New  York  decided  the  day.  Mr.  Lincoln  stood  up 
and  read  the  telegram.  He  was  the  calmest  man  in 
the  room.  When  he  had  finished  he  said  simply, 
'Well  I  must  go  and  tell  my  wife.'  " 


His  Famous  Second  Inaugural  Address. 

Lincoln  was  an  orator  as  well  as  a  statesman  and 
many  of  his  speeches  will  go  down  in  history  through 
all  time.  In  his  second  inaugural  address  he  made 
use  of  the  following  striking  expressions: 

*'0n  the  occasion  corresponding  to  this  foiu*  years 
ago  all  thoughts  were  anxiously  directed  to  an  impend- 
ing civil  war.  Both  parties  deprecated  war,  but  one 
of  them  would  make  war  rather  than  let  the  Nation 
survive,  and  the  other  would  accept  war  rather  than 
let  it  perish;  and  the  war  came.  Both  read  the  same 
Bible  and  pray  to  the  same  God,  and  each  invokes  His 


84  Best  Lincoln  Stones 

aid  against  the  other.  It  may  seem  strange  that  an}^ 
men  should  dare  to  ask  a  just  God's  assistance  in 
wringing  their  bread  from  the  sweat  of  other  men's 
faces;  but  let  us  judge  not,  that  we  be  not  judged. 
The  prayer  of  both  could  not  be  answered.  That  of 
another  has  been  answered  fully.  With  malice  toward 
none,  with  charity  for  all,  with  finr.ness  in  the  right, 
as  God  gives  us  to  see  the  right,  let  us  finish  the  work 
w^e  are  in,  to  bind  up  the  Nation's  wounds,  to  care  for 
him  who  shall  have  borne  the  battle,  and  for  his  widow 
and  his  orphans,  to  do  all  which  may  achieve  and  cher- 
ish a  just  and  a  lasting  peace  among  ourselves  and  with 
all  Nations." 

Eloquent,  is  it  not?    Beautiful,  is  it  not? 

And  yet  there  is  not  a  word  in  it  that  a  child  could 
not  understand.  Lincoln's  English  was  like  himself, 
simple,  forcible,  direct,  natural,  eloquent,  full  of  heart- 
throbs. As  his  unadorned  language  still  stirs  the 
heart  of  every  American  like  the  roll  of  a  drum,  and  as 
beside  it  the  tinsels  and  flowers,  and  gewgaws  of  pol- 
ished speech  are  but  as  pulseless  marble,  so  the  rugged 
nature  of  America's  greatest  man  looms  above  all 
lesser  public  men,  the  spotless,  genius-crowned  Shasta 
of  our  National  history. 

Lincoln  Said  Even  a  Rebel  Could  Be  Saved. 

This  story  w^ell  illustrated  Lincoln's  humanity  of 
character  which  found  expression  in  his  famous  words 
of  *' charity  for  all,  and  malice  toward  none."  It 
appears  that  Mr.  Shrigley,  of  Philadelphia,  a  Universal- 
ist,  had  been  nominated  for  hospital  chaplain.     A 


Tersely  Told,  85 

protesting  delegation  went  to  Washington  to  see  Presi- 
dent Lincoln  on  the  subject.  The  following  was  the 
interview : 

*'We  have  called,  Mr.  President,  to  confer  with 
you  in  regard  to  the  appointment  of  Mr.  Shrigley,  of 
Philadelphia,  as  hospital  chaplain. " 

The  President  responded:  *'0h,  yes,  gentlemen, 
I  have  sent  his  name  to  the  Senate,  and  he  will  no 
doubt  be  confirmed  at  an  early  date. " 

One  of  the  young  men  replied:  *'We  have  not 
come  to  ask  for  the  appointment,  but  to  solicit  you 
to  withdrav/  the  nomination. " 

''Ah!"  said  Lincoln,  ''that  alters  the  case;  but 
on  what  grounds  do  you  wish  the  nomination  with- 
drawn?" 

The  answer  was:  "Mr.  Shrigley  is  not  sound  in 
his  theological  opinions. " 

The  President  inquired:  "On  what  question  is  the 
gentleman  unsound?  " 

Response:  "He  does  not  believe  in  endless  pim- 
ishment;  not  only  so,  sir,  but  he  believes  that  even 
the  rebels  themselves  will  be  finally  saved. " 

"Is  that  so?"  inquired  the  President. 

The  members  of  the  committee  responded,  "Yes, 
yes." 

"Well,  gentlemen,  if  that  be  so,  and  there  is  any 
way  imder  Heaven  whereby  the  rebels  can  be  saved, 
then,  for  God's  sake  and  their  sakes,  let  the  man  be 
appointed. " 

It  is  almost  needless  to  add  that  Mr.  Shrigley  was 
appointed,  and  served  imtil  the  close  of  the  war. 


86  Best  Lincoln  Stones 

Washington  and  Lincoln  Compared. 

At  a  banquet  given  in  his  honor  on  Washington's 
birthday,  in  New  York,  February  22,  1897,  the  elo- 
quent and  gifted  Chauncey  M.  Depew  made  the  fol- 
lowing comparison  between  America's  two  greatest 
heroes : 

''This  February,  for  the  first  time,  both  Washing- 
ton's and  Lincoln's  birthdays  have  been  made  legal 
holidays.  Never  since  the  creation  of  man  were  two 
human  beings  so  unlike,  so  nearly  the  extremes  of 
opposition  to  each  other,  as  Washington  and  Lincoln. 
The  one  an  aristocrat  by  birth,  by  breeding,  and  asso- 
ciation, the  other  in  every  sense  and  by  every  surround- 
ing, a  democrat.  As  the  richest  man  in  America,  a 
large  slave-holder,  the  possessor  of  an  enormous  landed 
estate,  and  the  leader  and  representative  of  the  prop- 
erty, the  culture,  and  the  colleges  of  the  colonial  period, 
Washington  stood  for  the  conservation  and  preserva- 
tion of  law  and  order. 

"And  yet  millionaire,  slaveholder  and  aristocrat, 
in  its  best  sense,  that  he  was,  as  he  lived,  so  at  any  time 
he  would  have  died  for  the  immortal  principle  put  by 
the  Puritans  in  their  charter,  adopted  in  the  cabin  of 
the  Mayflower,  re-enacted  in  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence, of  the  equality  of  all  men  before  the  law  and 
of  the  equal  opportunity  for  all  to  rise.  Lincoln,  on 
the  other  hand,  was  bom  in  a  cabin,  among  that  class 
known  as  poor  whites  in  slaveholding  times,  who  held 
no  position  and  whose  condition  was  so  helpless  as  to 
paralyze  ambition  and  effort.    His  situation  so  far  as 


Tersely  Told.  87 

his  surroundings  were  concerned  had  considerable 
mental  but  Httle  moral  improvement  by  the  removal 
to  Indiana  and  subsequently  to  Illinois. 

^'Anjrwhere  in  the  Old  World  a  man  bem  amidst 
such  environments  and  teachings,  and  possessed  of 
imconquerable  energy  and  ambition  and  the  greatest 
powers  of  eloquence  and  constructive  statesmanship, 
would  have  been  a  Socialist  and  the  leader  of  a  social 
revolt.  He  might  have  been  an  Anarchist.  His 
one  ambition  would  have  been  to  break  the  crust  above 
him  and  shatter  it  to  pieces.  He  would  see  otherwise  no 
opportunity  for  himself  and  his  fellows  in  social  or  polit- 
ical or  professional  life.  But  Lincoln  attained  from  the 
log  cabin  of  the  poor  white  in  the  wilderness  the  same 
position  which  Washington  reached  from  his  palatial 
mansion  and  baronial  estate  on  the  Potomac ;  he  made 
the  same  fight  unselfishly,  patriotically,  and  grandly 
for  the  preservation  of  the  republic  that  Washington 
had  done  for  its  creation  and  foimdation.  Widely  as 
they  are  separated,  these  two  heroes  of  the  two  great 
crises  of  our  national  Hfe  stand  together  in  representing 
the  solvent  powers,  the  inspiring  processes,  and  the 
hopeful  opportunities  of  American  liberty. " 


Lincoln  Remembered  Him. 

A  stair-carpenter  happened  to  see  a  picture  of  the 
martyred  President.  Instantly  the  tones  of  his  voice 
softened,  his  eyes  grew  moist  with  tears,  and  the  whole 
expression  of  his  face  changed. 


88  Best  LiTicoln  Stones 

Then  he  told  us  his  ''story  of  Linceln.''  He  had 
been  shot  through  the  lungs  when  on  picket  in  '63, 
arid  was  in  the  hospital  at  Fortress  Monroe. 

For  weeks  he  had  been  l^ang  there,  till  he  had 
grown  dreadfully  homesick,  and  felt  as  if  the  only 
thing  that  could  cure  him  was  to  get  home  to  Mary- 
land. 

One  morning  Lincoln  visited  the  hospital,  and  as 
he  was  passing  around,  pausing  before  each  cot  to 
speak  a  w^ord  of  cheer  to  each  woimded  soldier,  this  one 
made  up  his  mind  that  if  he  gave  him  a  chance,  he 
would  make  known  his  wants. 

At  last  his  turn  came. 

"You  seem  very  comfortable,  my  friend,'*  Lincoln 
said. 

"Not  so  comfortable  as  I  should  be  if  I  could  get 
home  to  Maryland, "  was  the  reply. 

"What  is  your  name?'* 

"S.  Stover,  Co.  H,  2d  Maryland  Volunteers," 
was  promptly  answered,  and  Lincoln  passed  on. 

In  just  three  days  came  an  order  from  the  Presi- 
dent to  transfer  Private  Stover,  Co.  H,  2d  Mary- 
land Volunteers,  by  water  to  the  hospital  at  AnnapoHs. 

"I  was  surprised  myself,"  he  said;  "for  I  had 
watched  him  as  long  as  he  was  in  sight,  and  when  I  saw 
him  go  through  the  door  without  writing  down  my 
name  and  company,  I  gave  up  all  hope  of  seeing  my 
■Maryland  again. 

"And  it  has  always  been  a  mystery  to  me  that  a 
man  \\^th  so  much  to  think  of  should  keep  in  mind 
the  name,  regiment  and  company  of  a  private  soldier. " 


Tersely  Told.  89 

As  he  turned  away  to  conceal  the  tears  he  could  not 
keep  back,  it  was  plain  how  large  a  place  the  thought- 
ful kindness  of  that  great  man  had  won  in  the  heart 
of  the  poor,  homesick,  wounded  soldier. 


Why  Lincoln  Pardoned  Them. 

It  was  President  Lincoln's  intense  love  for  his  fel- 
low men  that  led  him  to  disapprove  of  the  findings  of 
court-martial  whenever  there  was  a  possible  excuse, 
particularly  in  the  cases  of  soldiers  charged  with  deser- 
tion, v/ith  having  fallen  asleep  at  a  post  of  duty,  or 
with  other  offenses. 

Secretary  Stanton  always  insisted  upon  the  strictest 
discipline  in  the  army  and  frequently  urged  that  dere- 
lict soldiers  receive  the  severest  punishment  of  mili- 
tary law  and  custom,  but  Lincoln  rarely  took  any  ad- 
vice on  such  matters.  He  had  m.editated  deeply  on 
that  subject  and  consulted  his  own  judgment  in  dis- 
posing of  cases  of  that  kind  that  came  before  him. 

The  late  Joseph  Holt,  w^ho  recently  died  at  Wash- 
ington, was  judge  advocate  general  of  the  army  during 
the  whole  period  of  the  war  and  it  became  his  duty  to 
report  many  cases  of  alleged  cowardice  of  soldiers  as 
well  as  other  offenses.  President  Lincoln  carefully 
read  every  line  of  the  charges  against  such  men,  and 
as  soon  as  he  saw  the  sUghtest  chance  to  excuse  the 
poor  fellow,  a  gleam  of  satisfaction  would  pass  over 
his  serious  face.  Then  folding  the  papers  together 
he  placed  them  in  a  pigeon  hole  of  his  desk,  and  with 


90  Best  Lincoln  Stories 

his  big  eyes  looking  into  those  of  the  judge  advocate 
standing  before  him,  he  would  say: 

*'Holt,  we  will  let  those  soldiers  go.  Order  them 
set  free. " 

It  was  after  the  battle  of  Chancellorsville  that 
charges  were  brought  against  several  men  for  failing 
to  march  with  their  regiments  into  the  fight  at  a  time 
when  they  were  most  needed.  The  charge  of  deser- 
tion was  made. 

When  Secretary  Stanton  heard  of  these  cases  he 
commanded  Judge  Holt  to  present  the  charges  against 
the  men  to  the  President  in  the  strongest  possible 
terms. 

"We  need  stronger  discipline  in  the  army,"  said 
the  stem  secretary  of  war  to  the  judge  advocate.  ''The 
time  has  come  when  the  President  must  yield  to  our 
opinion. " 

Judge  Holt  was  himself  one  of  the  ablest  lawyers 
of  his  day,  and  had  won  fame  as  a  forensic  orator  long 
before  the  war. 

"In  presenting  these  cases,"  said  he  to  the  writer 
a  few  months  before  his  death,  "in  obedience  to  the 
wish  of  the  secretary  of  war,  I  used  all  the  legal  acumen 
at  my  command.  One  morning,  with  my  papers  all 
ready  (and  I  was  deeply  in  earnest  in  the  matter),  I 
proceeded  to  the  White  House;  and,  as  I  entered  his 
private  office,  the  President  looked  up  with  his  long, 
sad  face,  saying: 

"  ^Ahl  Holt,  what  have  you  there?* 


Tersely  Told.  91 

"*I  have  some  important  cases  for  your  careful 
consideration,  Mr.  President,  with  documentary  evi- 
dence sufficient  to  condemn  every  man.' 

''He  took  the  papers  and  read  them  carefully, 
stopping  at  times  to  reflect,  then  read  on  until  he  fin- 
ished. There  was  no  change  in  his  countenance  this 
time,  imless  that  it  grew  more  sad  and  his  expression 
more  serious.  I  had  covered  the  cases  in  question 
with  strong  and  convincing  argument  and  evidence. 
He  finally  raised  his  eyes  from  the  last  paper  and  gazed 
intently  through  the  window  at  some  object  across  the 
Potomac.  Then,  rising  from  his  chair,  with  the  papers 
aU  folded  together,  he  placed  them  in  a  pigeon  hole 
already  filled  with  similar  documents.  With  his  tall, 
gaunt  form  facing  me,  he  spoke,  in  deep,  sad  tones, 
that  would  have  touched  the  heart  of  the  sternest 
officer  of  the  army: 

''  'Holt  (it  was  his  custom  to  mention  only  the  last 
name),  you  acknowledge  those  men  have  a  previous 
record  for  bravery.  It  is  not  the  first  time  they  have 
faced  danger;  and  they  shall  not  be  shot  for  this  one 
offense.' 

'  *'I  then  thought  it  was  my  duty  as  the  head  of  my 
department  of  mihtary  justice  to  make  further  argu- 
ment. For  I  knew  Stanton  would  nearly  explode  with 
rage  when  he  heard  of  the  President's  decision.  I 
began  to  speak  and  Lincoln  sat  down  again,  giving  me 
his  closest  attention.  Then,  rising  from  his  chair  and 
riveting  his  eyes  upon  me,  he  said: 

" '  Holt,  were  you  ever  in  battle?' 

"'I  have  never  been.' 


92  Best  Li7icoln  Stories 

'"Did  Stanton  ever  march  in  the  first  line,  to  be 
shot  at  by  an  enemy  like  those  men  did?' 

'''I  think  not,  Mr.  President.' 

"'Well,  I  tried  it  in  the  Black  Hawk  war,  and  I 
remember  one  time  I  grew  awful  weak  in  the  knees 
when  I  heard  the  bullets  whistle  aroimd  me  and  saw 
the  enemy  in  front  of  m.e.  How  my  legs  carried  me 
for^^ard  I  cannot  now  tell,  for  I  thought  every  minute 
that  I  would  sink  to  the  groimd.  The  men  against 
whom  those  charges  have  been  made  probably  were 
not  able  to  march  into  battle.  Who  knows  that  they 
were  able?  I  am  opposed  to  having  soldiers  shot  for 
not  facing  danger  when  it  is  not  known  that  their  legs 
would  carry  them  into  danger.  Send  this  dispatch 
ordering  them  to  be  set  free.  And  they  were  set  free 
that  day.'  " 

The  Lincoln  Portraits. 

The  Lincoln  apotheosis  is  much  more  satisfactory 
than  the  Napoleon  apotheosis.  Lincoln  is  not  only 
our  own,  but  a  greater,  purer,  sweeter,  really  stronger 
man  than  Napoleon.  It  is  a  good  thing  to  bring  out 
the  Httle-kno\\Ti  portraits  of  Lincoln.  What  a  marvel- 
ous face!  It  is  full  of  strength — ^^ath  just  enough  of 
the  big  child  in  it  to  kindle  love  and  sympathy.  Has 
anyone  ever  noticed  the  way  in  which  Lincoln's  face 
is  cast  on  the  Hnes  of  the  North  American  Indian? 
We  have  never  heard  that  Lincoln  had  Indian  blood 
in  him;  but  take  any  of  his  good  beardless  portraits, 
\\nth  front  or  nearly  front  vicv/;  add  to  it  a  shock  of 
straight  hair  parted  in  the  middle  and  falling  dowTi, 


Tersely  Told.  93 

either  straight  or  in  two  braids,  on  the  shoulders;  add 
a  feather  to  it;  clothe  the  body  in  a  blanket  and  let  it 
take  an  Indian  stoop;  and  no  one  would  question  that 
the  man  was  an  aborigine.  The  face  has  the  gravity 
of  the  Indian  countenance,  but  not  the  impassiveness 
that  we  read  about;  but  Indian  faces,  after  all,  are 
seldom  impassive.  The  face  of  Lincoln,  who  was  not 
an  Indian,  has  more  of  the  aborigine  in  it  than  of  that 
other  great  President,  Benito  Juarez,  who  was  an 
Indian. 

Lincoln's  Faith  in  Providence. 

The  raid  made  by  the  Confederate  general,  J.  E.  B. 
Stuart,  in  June,  1862,  around  the  Union  army  com- 
manded by  General  McClellan,  caused  great  anxiety 
in  Washington.  One  of  its  results  was  the  interruption 
of  commimications  between  the  capital  and  the  arm}^ 
of  the  Potomac.  What  this  portended  no  one  could 
affirm.  That  it  suggested'  the  gravest  possibihties 
was  felt  by  all. 

While  this  feeling  was  dominating  all  circles,  several 
gentlemen,  myself  among  them,  called  on  President 
Lincoln  in  order  to  be  definitely  advised  about  the 
condition  of  affairs  as  imderstood  by  hkn. 

To  our  question:  *'Mr.  President,  have  you  any 
news  from  the  army? "  he  sadly  replied:  ''Not  one 
word;  we  can  get  no  communication  with  it.  I  do  not 
know  that  we  have  an  army;  it  may  have  been  de- 
stroyed or  captured,  though  I  cannot  so  believe,  for  it 
was  a  splendid  army.  But  the  most  I  can  do  now  is  to 
hope  that  serious  disaster  has  not  befallen  it. " 


94  Best  Lincoln  Stories 

This  led  to  a  somewhat  protracted  conversation 
relative  to  the  general  condition  of  our  affairs.  It 
was  useless  to  talk  about  the  Army  of  the  Potomac; 
for  we  knew  nothing  concerning  its  condition  or  position 
at  that  moment.  The  conversation  therefore  took  a 
wide  range  and  touched  upon  the  subject  of  slavery, 
about  which  much  was  said. 

The  President  did  not  participate  in  this  conversa- 
tion. He  was  an  attentive  listener,  but  gave  no  sign 
of  approval  or  disapproval  of  the  views  which  were 
expressed.  At  length  one  of  the  active  participants 
remarked : 

"Slavery  must  be  stricken  down  wherever  it  exists 
in  this  cotmtry.  It  is  right  that  it  should  be.  It  is 
a  crime  against  justice  and  humanity.  We  have  toler- 
ated it  too  long.  It  brought  war  upon  us.  I  believe 
that  Providence  is  not  unmindful  of  the  struggle  in 
which  this  nation  is  engaged.  If  we  do  not  do  right  I 
believe  God  will  let  us  go  our  own  way  to  our  ruin. 
But,  if  we  do  right,  I  believe  He  will  lead  us  safely  out 
of  this  wilderness,  crown  our  arms  with  victory,  and 
restore  our  now  dissevered  Union. " 

I  observed  President  Lincoln  closely  while  this 
earnest  opinion  and  expression  of  religious  faith  was 
being  uttered.  I  saw  that  it  affected  him  deeply,  and 
anticipated,  from  the  play  of  his  features  and  the 
sparkle  of  his  eyes,  that  he  would  not  let  the  occasion 
pass  without  making  some  definite  response  to  it.  I 
was  not  mistaken.  Mr.  Lincoln  had  been  sitting  in 
his  chair,  in  a  kind  of  weary  and  despondent  attitude 
while  the  conversation  progressed.    At  the  conclusion 


Tersely  Told.  95 

of  the  remarks  I  have  quoted,  he  at  once  arose  and 
stood  at  his  extreme  height.  Pausing  a  moment,  his 
right  arm  outstretched  towards  the  gentleman  who  had 
just  ceased  speaking,  his  face  aglow  like  the  face  of  a 
prophet,  Mr.  Lincoln  gave  deliberate  and  emphatic 
utterance  to  the  religious  faith  which  sustained  him 
in  the  great  trial  to  which  he  and  the  country  were  sub- 
jected.   He  said: 

"My  faith  is  greater  than  yours.  I  not  only  be- 
lieve that  Providence  is  not  immindfvd  of  the  struggle 
in  which  this  nation  is  engaged;  that  if  we  do  not  do 
right  God  will  let  us  go  our  own  way  to  our  ruin;  and 
that  if  we  do  right  He  will  lead  us  safely  out  of  this 
wilderness,  crown  our  arms  with  victory,  and  restore 
our  dissevered  union,  as  you  have  expressed  your 
belief;  but  I  also  believe  that  He  will  compel  us  to  do 
right  in  order  that  He  may  do  these  things,  not  so 
much  because  we  desire  them  as  that  they  accord  with 
His  plans  of  deahng  with  this  nation,  in  the  midst  of 
which  He  means  to  estabHsh  justice.  I  think  He 
means  that  we  shall  do  more  than  we  have  yet  done  in 
furtherance  of  His  plans,  and  He  will  open  the  way  for 
our  doing  it.  I  have  felt  His  hand  upon  me  in  great 
trials  and  submitted  to  His  guidance,  and  I  trust  that 
as  He  shall  further  open  the  way  I  will  be  ready  to 
walk  therein,  relying  on  His  help  and  trusting  in  His 
goodness  and  wisdom." — From  *'Some  Memories  of 
Lincoln,"  by  ex-Senator  James  F.  Wilson,  in  North 
American  Review. 


96  Best  Lincoln  Stones 

Lincoln's  Last  Words. 

The  very  last  words  Lincoln  delivered  on  the  after- 
noon before  the  assassination — last  of  those  great  utter- 
ances that  for  six  or  seven  years  electrified  and  en- 
lightened half  the  world — were  a  message  of  suggestion 
and  encouragement  to  the  miners  of  the  Rockies. 
Schuyler  Colfax  was  going  thither  and  was  paying  his 
final  call  at  the  White  House.     Lincoln  said  to  him: 

"Mr.  Colfax,  I  want  you  to  take  a  message  from 
me  to  the  miners  whom  you  visit.  I  have  very  large 
ideas  of  the  mineral  w^ealth  of  our  nation.  I  believe 
it  is  practically  inexhaustible.  It  abounds  aU  over 
the  western  cotmtry,  from  the  Rocky  mountains  to  the 
Pacific,  and  its  development  has  scarcely  commenced. 
During  the  war,  when  we  were  adding  a  couple  of  mil- 
lion dollars  every  day  to  our  national  debt,  I  did  not 
care  about  encouraging  the  increase  in  the  volimie  of 
our  precious  metals;  we  had  the  country  to  save  first. 
But  now  that  the  rebellion  is  overtlirown,  and  we  know 
pretty  nearly  the  amount  of  our  national  debt,  the 
more  gold  and  silver  we  mine,  we  make  the  payment 
of  that  debt  so  much  easier.  Now,  I  am  going  to  en- 
courage that  in  every  possible  way.  We  shall  have 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  disbanded  soldiers,  and  many 
have  feared  that  their  return  home  in  such  great  num- 
bers might  paralyze  industry  by  furnishing  suddenly 
a  greater  supply  of  labor  than  there  will  be  a  demand 
for.  I  am  going  to  try  to  attract  them  to  the  hidden 
wealth  of  our  mountain  ranges,  where  there  is  room 
enough  for  all.  Immigi'ation,  which  even  the  war  has 
not  stopped,  will  land  upon  our  shores  hundreds  of 


Tersely  Told.  97 

thousands  more  from  over-crowded  Europe.  I  in- 
tend to  point  them  to  the  gold  and  silver  that  wait  for 
them  in  the  West.  Tell  the  miners  for  me,  that  I  shall 
promote  their  interests  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  be- 
cause their  prosperity  is  the  prosperity  of  the  nation; 
and  we  shall  prove  in  a  few  years  that  we  are  indeed 
the  treasury  of  the  world.  '* 

A  Chicagoan  Who  Saw  Lincoln  Shot. 

Mr.  George  C.  Read,  of  Chicago,  at  the  time  of 
President  Lincoln's  assassination,  was  a  foot  orderly 
imder  Generals  Griffin  and  Ayers.  He  was  in  Wash- 
ington on  the  fateful  April  14,  1865,  and  was  an  eye- 
witness to  the  tragedy.     He  tells  of  it  as  follows: 

''Some  time  in  the  latter  part  of  March,  1865,  I 
was  sent  to  Washington  on  account  of  the  loss  of  my 
voice.  I  remained  there  most  of  the  time  in  barracks 
on  East  Capitol  Hill.  On  the  afternoon  of  the  fated 
April  14,  1865,  I  happened  in  the  saloon  next  door  to 
Ford's  Theatre  to  see  the  barkeeper,  one  Jim  Peck. 
While  standing  near  a  stove  about  the  center  of  the 
room  three  men  came  into  the  place  laughing  and 
talking  loudly.  They  all  went  to  the  end  of  the  bar 
nearest  the  door  and  ordered  a  drink.  One  was  a  tall, 
handsome  fellow,  dressed  in  the  latest  fashionable 
clothes,  if  I  remember  rightly,  and  the  others  appeared 
like  workmen  of  some  kind.  Both  were  carelessly 
dressed,  and  I  think  one  was  in  his  shirtsleeves.  They 
had  their  drink,  and  then  the  fine-looking  man  turned 
toward  where  I  was  standing  and  said,  'Come  up 


98  Best  Lincoln  Stories 

soldier,  and  have  a  drink/  I  declined,  for  the  reason 
that  I  had  not  at  that  time  become  addicted  to  the 
habit  of  social  drinking.  He  then  approached  me  and 
took  me  by  the  arm  and  said,  'Have  something ;  take 
a  cigar.'  This  I  did  not  refuse,  and  he  put  his  hand  in 
his  vest  pocket  and,  pulling  out  a  cigar,  handed  it  to 
me  without  any  further  remarks.  He  then  returned 
to  his  companions  at  the  bar.  They  remained,  if  I 
remember  correctly,  about  five  minutes  after,  and 
then,  all  laughing  at  something  that  Peck  said,  left 
the  place.  As  soon  as  they  were  gone  I  asked  Peck 
who  the  big  man  was,  and  he  said  that  he  was  an  actor 
— one  of  the  Booth  family — John  Wilkes  Booth.  I 
had  heard  of  him  before,  but  paid  no  further  attention 
to  it  except  to  remark  that  he  seemed  to  be  in  a  happy 
frame  of  mind,  when  Peck  stated  that  he  was  on  a 
drunk,  and  associated  with  the  stage  mechanics  in  the 
theater  all  the  time. 

"As  I  was  about  to  depart,  little  thinking  what 
history  would  develop  in  a  few  short  hours,  Peck  asked 
me  to  accept  a  couple  of  tickets  to  the  theater  for  that 
night.  I  was  glad  to  get  them,  having  no  money  to 
purchase  the  same,  and  knowing  that  the  President 
would  be  at  the  play.  Later  I  foimd  a  young  man, 
like  myself,  broke,  and  invited  him  to  accompany  me 
to  the  play.  We  were  on  hand  early,  and,  having  good 
reserved  seats  about  the  center  of  the  house,  were 
elated  over  our  good  luck. 

**  Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  curtain  went  up  and 
'Our  American  Cousin'  was  introduced.  I  was  in- 
tently interested  and  cannot  remember  positively  what 


Tersely  Told.  99 

act  it  was  that  was  on,  except  what  is  told  in  history, 
when  I  heard  a  shot,  and  immediately  a  man  appeared 
at  the  front  of  the  President's  box  and,  without  waiting, 
jumped  to  the  stage  beneath.  I,  as  well  as  all  others 
in  the  theater,  was  astonished.  He  ran  to  about  the 
center  of  the  stage  and  raised  his  left  hand  and  said 
something  I  did  not  catch,  and  then  disappeared  be- 
hind the  wings.  As  soon  as  I  saw  him  I  recogn  zed 
the  handsome  man  I  had  seen  in  the  saloon  that  after- 
noon, and  turned  to  my  comrade  and  said:  *  That's 
Wilkes  Booth,  the  actor,  and  I  think  he  is  on  a  drunk.' 
Before  I  had  finished  even  this  a  cry  went  up  that  the 
President  had  been  shot,  *Stop  that  manl'  and  many 
other  exclamations  I  have  forgotten.  It  was  all  done 
so  quickly  that  one  had  hardly  time  to  think.  Im- 
mediately the  audience  rose  as  one  person  and  cries 
were  heard  all  over  the  house,  *Stop  that  man!*  'The 
President  has  been  assassinated!*  and  many  others. 
The  people  began  to  crush  each  other  and  try  to  get  out 
of  the  theater,  but  they  were  quieted  to  a  certain  ex- 
tent and  the  provost  g"uard  on  duty  there  fought  to 
make  them  keep  their  places.  Soon  there  was  a  move- 
ment on  the  side  aisle  running  from  the  President's 
box,  and  from  where  I  was  standing  on  my  seat  I 
could  see  what  appeared  to  be  a  party  of  men  carrying 
some  one.  Later  the  rest  of  the  party  were  conducted 
out  of  the  theater,  and  when  I  managed  to  get  outside 
I  saw  a  crowd  looking  up  at  a  house  opposite.  On 
asking  what  it  meant,  I  was  told  that  the  President  had 
been  carried  there  and  was  dying.  I  lost  my  comrade 
in  the  crowd  and  have  never  met  him  since. 


100  Bed  Lincoln  Stones 

"It  is  unnecessary  to  go  into  any  more  details  of 
what  occurred  that  night.  I  was  excited,  as  well  as 
every  one  else  in  the  city,  and  got  little  rest.  But 
that  is  my  experience,  told  as  briefly  as  possible,  with- 
out any  stretch  of  imagination.  If  I  had  to  do  the 
same  again  I  think  it  would  have  been  better  if  I  had 
told  the  officials  what  I  saw  that  afternoon,  but,  as 
it  was,  all  came  out  right,  and  the  really  guilty  ones 
suffered  the  penalty  of  their  crime.  I  met  Peck  the 
next  year  in  New  York  City,  but  have  never  heard  of, 
or  seen  him  since." 


Martyred  Lincoln's  Blood. 

An  interesting  and  valuable  reHc,  which  brings 
vividly  to  the  mind  the  historic  scene  in  Ford's  Theater, 
Washington,  on  the  night  of  April  14,  1865,  is  owned 
by  Colonel  James  S.  Case,  at  one  time  a  resident  of 
Philadelphia,  but  whose  home  is  now  in  Brooklyn. 

It  is  only  a  play  bill,  but  upon  it  is  a  discoloration 
made  by  a  tiny  drop  of  President  Lincoln's  blood. 
It  was  picked  up  just  after  the  tragedy  by  John  T. 
Ford,  the  manager  of  the  theater.  He  found  it  on 
the  floor  of  the  box  where  it  had  fallen  from  the  Presi- 
dent's hand  when  the  bullet  of  Assassin  Booth  pierced 
his  head.  It  lay  beneath  the  chair  in  which  the  citizen 
hero  received  his  death  wound.  There  was  a  tiny  spot 
of  blood,  still  red  as  it  came  from  the  great  heart  of 
Lincoln,  on  the  edge. 

Mr.  Ford  carried  the  precious  paper  home,  and  only 
parted  with  it  at  the  request  of  the  late  A.  K.  Browne 


Tersely  Told.  101 

of  Washington,  who  was  a  warm  personal  friend  of  the 
manager.  It  came  into  Mr.  Browne's  possession  while 
the  nation  was  still  mourning  for  its  idol,  and  soon 
after  his  assassin  had  met  justly  merited  fate  at  the 
hands  of  Sergeant  Boston  Corbett. 

The  playbill  is  somewhat  yellow  from  age,  but 
othen;\dse  is  in  an  excellent  state  of  preservation.  The 
bloodstain  is  now  a  dare  brown.  The  program  was  of 
''Our  American  Cousin,  "which  was  being  given  for  the 
benefit  of  Laura  Keene.  The  blood  stain  is  nearly 
halfway  down  the  program,  opposite  the  names  of 
John  Dyott,  and  Harry  Hawk,  Miss  Keene's  leading 
support. 

A  Strange  Coincidence  in  the  Lives  of  Lincoln  and 

His  Slayer. 

When  President  Lincoln  was  assassinated  on  the 
night  of  April  14,  1865,  while  witnessing  a  play  at 
Ford's  Theater,  in  Washington,  he  was  removed  to  the 
Peterson  house,  which  was  directly  opposite  the  theater. 

The  late  John  T.  Ford  related  that  he  had  occasion 
to  visit  John  Wilkes  Booth  at  the  Peterson  house  once. 
The  Davenport-Wallack  combination  was  playing 
*' Julius  Cassar"  at  Ford's  theater.  Booth  had  been 
cast  to  play  Marc  Antony  and  was  late  in  coming  to 
rehearsal.  Ford  went  over  to  the  house  to  ask  him  to 
hurry  up.  He  found  Booth  lying  in  bed  studying  his 
lines.  He  little  dreamed  then  that  Lincoln  would  so 
shortly  die  in  the  same  house,  the  same  room  and  on 
that  identical  bed,  or  that  Booth  would  turn  out  to  be 
his  assassin. 


102  Best  Lincoln  Stories 

Where  Is   the  Original  Emancipation  Proclamation? 

When  Lincoln  went  to  Washington  he  had  a  sale 
of  the  furniture  of  the  Eighth  street  home  at  Spring- 
field. Most  of  the  articles  were  bought  by  a  well-to- 
do  family  named  Tilt  on,  who  admired  the  President 
in  such  a  way  as  to  make  what  had  belonged  to  him, 
things  to  be  treasured.  When  the  troops  passed 
through  Springfield  to  the  front  they  visited  the  house 
''where  Uncle  Abe  had  lived,"  and  the  Til  tons  used 
to  confer  great  favor  by  permitting  the  boys  in  blue 
to  sit  down  in  the  dining  room  and  have  a  glass  of  milk 
off  the  table  from  which  Mr.  Lincoln  had  eaten  many 
times.  But  the  Tiltons  moved  away  to  Chicago. 
They  carried  with  them  the  furniture  which  had  been 
in  the  Lincoln  house,  prizing  it  more  than  ever  after 
his  death.  In  1871  came  the  Chicago  fire,  and  with  it 
went  not  only  the  Lincoln  furniture,  but  the  original 
document,  which,  if  it  were  in  existence  now,  would  be 
preserved  with  the  zeal  that  guards  the  Declaration  of 
Independence — the  Proclamation  of  Emancipation. 
The  draft  of  the  proclamation  had  been  sent  to  Chicago 
to  be  exhibited  for  some  purpose  and  was  burned  in 
that  fire. 

Mr.  Griffiths  on  Lincoln. 

''No  other  public  man  has  been  subjected  to  such 
scrutiny  from  the  time  he  was  bom  until  the  end  of  his 
tragic  career  as  was  Lincoln, "  said  Mr.  Griffiths  in  a 
lecture.  "He  obtained  his  early  education  from 
*,^op's   Fables,'    'Robinson   Crusoe,*   the    'Pilgrim's 


Tersely  Told,  103 

Progress'  and  a  copy  of  the  Indiana  statutes.  This 
was  before  some  of  oui  later  legislatures  had  made  their 
records  or  his  education  might  have  been  marred  in- 
stead of  made^ 

"When  he  was  elected  President/' Mr.  Griffiths 
continued,  *'he  was  a  plodding  coimtry  lawyer  whose 
library  consisted  of  twenty-two  volumes.  Through  his 
pubHc  addresses  he  blazed  his  way  to  the  Presidency. 
He  believed  the  position  of  a  stump  speaker  to  be  one 
of  sacred  trust.  He  had  none  of  the  platform  graces. 
His  figure  was  ungainly;  his  voice  was  rasping.  He 
always  made  the  most  careful  preparation  and  gave 
his  best  thought  to  the  smallest  audiences.  He  had 
marvelous  gift  of  expression  and  he  knew  more  about 
the  Bible  than  Webster.  He  was  not  learned  in  the 
law  and  he  despised  the  legal  routine.  On  a  lawsuit 
he  always  dealt  in  the  tmexpected,  which  greatly  dis- 
comfited the  opposing  lawyer.  He  liked  stories,  but 
always  told  them  to  illustrate  a  point.  He  was  a 
deeply  religious  man." 


A  Famous  Chicago  Lawyer's  Views. 

''Into  the  story  of  the  republic  from  1861  to  1865, 
the  patriot  does  well  to  enter,  there  to  find  for  instruc- 
tion and  example  the  manliest  of  Americans,  the  high- 
est type  of  Americanism,  the  central  figure  of  the  cen- 
tury, Abraham  Lincoln.  The  fierce  partisanship  which 
assailed  him  during  his  short  period  of  leadership  be- 
came silent  at  his  death,  and  each  succeeding  year  but 
serves  to  exalt  his  work  and  character. 


104  Best  Lincoln  Stories 

*'The  judgment  of  time  has  already  shown  to  be 
colossal  him  who  was  called  common — the  honor  that 
we  offer  to  his  memory  is  only  the  spontaneous  tribute 
of  contemporary  history — om*  enthusiasm  is  but  the 
sum  of  the  world's  calmest  thinking.  For  years  in  all 
lands  gifted  speech  has  proclaimed  his  deeds  and  the 
pens  of  poets  have  sketched  his  life.  Thus  does  he 
receive  his  tribute  from  the  people. 

*'In  his  mentality  Lincoln  shone  in  justice,  com- 
mon sense,  consistency,  persistence,  and  knowledge  of 
men.  In  his  words  he  was  candid  and  frank,  but  ac- 
curate and  concise,  speaking  strong  Anglo-Saxon  im- 
adomed — powerful  in  its  simplicity.  In  his  sentiments 
he  was  kind,  patriotic,  and  brave.  No  leader  ever 
combined  more  completely  the  graces  of  gentleness 
with  rugged  determination.  In  his  morals  truth  was 
his  star,  honestly  the  vital  essence  of  his  life. 

*'In  his  reHgion  he  was  faithful  as  a  saint.  Provi- 
dence was  his  stay  and  he  walked  with  God.  As  Presi- 
dent his  life  and  deeds  were  a  constant  sermon.  Love 
of  men  and  faith  in  God  were  the  fundamental  elements 
of  his  character.  Poverty  had  schooled  him  to  pity 
and  taught  him  the  equahty  of  all  mankind. " — Luther 
Laiiin  Mills. 


Lincoln  Was  Plain  But  Great. 

Lincoln's  forefathers  were  independent  owners  of 
the  land  they  trod  on,  barons,  not  serfs.  You  will 
say  perhaps,  that  Lincoln  had  little  education.  We 
are  apt  to  say  that  of  our  great  men.     Lincoln  knew 


Tersely  Told.  105 

how  to  speak,  read  and  write.  What  more  do  we  teach 
our  boys  today?  He  knew  the  Bible,  which  cannot  be 
said  of  everybody  in  Boston.  He  read  Bums,  and  this 
v/ith  the  Bible  gave  him  his  inspiration  and  sentiment, 
.^sop  and  ''Pilgrim's  Progress"  taught  him  aptness 
and  pregnant  illustration. 

The  incidents  of  his  life  were  few  but  notable.  He 
was  a  resident  of  three  states  before  he  was  twenty-one 
and  made  a  river  trip  to  New  Orleans,  longer  than 
Thomas  Jefferson  had  taken  at  his  age.  At  New  Or- 
leans he  saw  for  the  first  time  the  auction  and  whipping 
of  slaves,  which  made  so  deep  an  impression  on  him 
that  it  may  be  said  to  be  the  birth  of  his  anti-slavery 
sentiment. 

The  choice  of  Mr.  Lincoln  for  President  was  not  a 
strained  one.  He  was  the  logical  selection.  Lin- 
coln's qualities,  that  sympathy  with  the  conimon  peo- 
ple, that  homely  sincerity,  have  given  him  a  place 
in  the  people's  hearts  a  Httle  closer,  a  Httle  dearer,  than 
is  held  by  any  other  pubHc  man.  He  had  faults,  but 
they  were  small  compared  with  his  virtues.  He  had 
not  Washington's  grandeur,  the  mental  alertness  of 
Hamilton,  or  the  intellectual  force  of  Webster.  His 
greatness  was  made  up  of  natural  qualities,  as  of  a 
hillside  towering  o'er  a  plain,  yet  a  part  of  it.  Lin- 
coln was  surpassed  in  certain  qualities  by  other  of  our 
historically  great  men,  but  there  are  none,  we  feel 
sure,  who  would  have  filled  the  place  the  way  he  filled 
as  well  as  he. — Secretary  of  War  Long. 


106  Best  Lincoln  Stories 

Lincoln's  Specific  Life  Work. 

One  often  thinks  of  his  Hfe  as  cut  off,  but  no  great 
man  since  Caesar  has  seen  his  life  work  ended  as  did 
Lincoln.  Napoleon  died  upon  a  desert  rock,  but  not 
until  Austerlitz  and  Wagram  had  become  memories, 
and  the  dust  of  the  empire  even  as  all  dust.  Crom- 
well knew  that  England  had  not  at  heart  materially- 
altered.  Washington  did  not  know  that  he  had  created 
one  of  the  great,  perhaps  the  greatest,  empires  to  be 
known  to  man.  But  Lincoln  had  a  specific  task  to  do 
— to  save  his  country  and  to  make  it  free — and  on  that 
faitful  14th  of  April,  he  knew  that  he  had  accomplished 
both  things. 

There  are  those  who  would  say  that  chance  put  this 
man  where  he  was  to  do  this  work.  To  the  thoughtful 
mind  it  was  not  chance,  however,  but  design,  and  that 
the  design  of  which  all  greatness  is  a  part.  War  is 
indeed  the  crucible  of  the  nations.  It  is  the  student 
of  a  century  hence  who  shall  properly  place  the  civil 
war  in  American  history.  But,  whatever  that  place 
be,  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  position  in  it  of  the 
war  President.  Like  William  the  Silent,  his  domina- 
tion of  all  about  him  was  a  matter,  not  of  personal 
desire,  but  of  absolute  and  constant  growth.  There 
are  few  more  interesting  characters  in  history  than 
Lincoln.  There  is  none  who  in  quite  the  same  manner 
fits  himself  so  absolutely  into  his  circumstances.  It 
is  the  highest  form  of  genius  that  so  produces  as  to 
make  production  seem  effortless,  and  it  is  perhaps  the 
greatest  tribute  to  Lincoln  that  what  he  did  seems 
sometimes  only  what  the  average  man  would  have 
done  in  his  place. 


Tersely  Told.  107 

The  Proposed  Purchase  of  the  Slaves. 

The  discussion  on  the  question  of  whether  or  not 
Abraham  Lincoln  suggested  at  the  conference  with 
the  southern  commissioners  at  the  so-called  Fortress 
Monroe  meeting,  that  he  was  prepared  to  pay  $400,- 
000,000  for  the  slaves  in  the  Southern  States  provided 
peace  with  union  could  be  obtained,  is  hardly  likely 
to  lead  to  any  definite  conclusion,  for  the  reason  that 
the  few  who  should  have  known  definitely  about ^  it 
are  distinctly  divided  in  their  opinions.  We  are  in- 
chned  to  believe  that,  if  the  proposition  was  made, 
Mr.  Lincoln,  notwithstanding  the  immense  ^  influence 
that  he  then  possessed,  would  have  found  it  exceed- 
ingly difficult  to  convince  Congress  and  a  majority  of 
the  people  of  the  North  of  the  wisdom  of  the  suggestion. 
As  a  business  proposition,  entirely  apart  from  senti- 
ment, it  might  have  been,  even  at  that  late  day,  a  wise 
plan  to  adopt.  But  the  war  had  then  been  going  on 
for  years,  and  the  hard  feelings  engendered  would 
apparently  have  made  the  scheme  a  less  tenable  one 
then,  than  at  an  earlier  day.  ^  It  will,  we  imagine, 
appear  to  future  historians  that,  in  spite  of  the  example 
which  had  been  set  by  England  in  the  West  Indies, 
those  representing  both  the  North  and  the  South 
showed  themselves,  just  prior  to  the  war,  wanting^  in 
the  true  elements  of  statesmanship  in  not  reaHzing 
that  it  was  better  to  peaceably  adjust  their  differences 
than  have  recourse  to  physical  force.  It  is  now  well 
imderstood,  and  might  have  been  well  understood  at 
the  time,  that  the  main  issue  was  the  slave  issue,^and 
that  once  out  of  the  way,  all  other  sources  of  division 


108  Best  Lincoln  Stories 

were  insignificant.  We  could  have  well  afforded  to 
vote,  if  need  be,  several  thousands  of  millions  of  dollars 
to  purchase  the  freedom  of  the  slaves,  if  by  that  means, 
the  civil  war  withall  of  its  wastes  and  sufferings  could 
have  been  avoided;  and  if  not  now,  a  generation  or 
two  hence,  we  feel  convinced  that  the  people,  both  of 
the  North  and  South,  will  be  of  the  opinion  that  such 
an  outcome  of  the  contention  would  have  been  possible 
it  we  had  on  both  sides  of  the  quarrel  statesmen  of  the 
caliber  of  Washington,  Jefferson,  Franklin,  John 
Quincy  Adams  and  other  eminent  Americans  who  have 
made  their  mark  in  our  national  history. 


Senator  Thurston's  Speech. 

Senator  John  M.  Thurston  said  in  part  at  a  ban- 
quet of  the  Baptist  Social  Union,  New  York,  on  Lin- 
coln's birthday,  in  1897: 

*'This  is  an  entirely  different  gathering  than  that 
to  which  I  have  been  recently  accustomed.  I  come 
from  a  forty  days'  session  of  a  moot  court,  in  which  the 
question  of  silver  has  been  discussed  and  passed  upon 
without  any  hope  of  legislation.  There  I  have  been 
used  to  having  my  audiences  rise  and  leave  as  soon 
as  I  begin  to  speak. 

*'Mr.  President,  if  I  have  any  purpose  to-night,  it 
is  to  strengthen  the  belief  in  a  Divine  Providence;  and 
if  I  have  any  further  purpose  in  this  time  of  wars  and 
rumors  of  wars,  it  is  to  show  that  God  Almighty  has 
made  nations  for  higher  purposes  than  mere  money 
making.    I  am  to  speak  to-night  of  Abraham  Lincoln, 


Tersely  Told.  109 

the  simplest,  serenest,  sublimest  character  of  the  age. 
Seventy  millions  of  people  join  in  commemorating  his 
greatness.  It  is  not  my  purpose  to  review  his  life; 
that  is  too  much  a  part  of  history.  That  history  should 
be  taught  in  every  American  public  school  and  preached 
from  every  Christian  pulpit.  The  story  of  Abraham 
Lincoln,  citizen,  President,  liberator  and  martyr,  should 
be  in  the  heart  of  every  American  child.  I  prefer  to 
speak  of  only  one  event  in  his  history.  Yet  that  event 
was  the  harbinger  of  a  new  civilization. 

*'Not  long  since,  as  I  sat  in  a  crowded  court  room, 
engaged  in  the  trial  of  a  case  involving  the  title  to  a 
valuable  tract  of  real  estate,  there  came  to  the  witness 
stand  a  venerable,  white-haired  negro.  Written  all  over 
his  old  black  face  was  the  history  of  three-quarters  of 
a  century  of  such  an  existence  as  few  persons  ever  have 
known.  Bom  a  slave,  he  had  stood  upon  the  auction 
block  and  been  sold  to  the  highest  bidder;  he  had  seen 
his  wife  and  children  dragged  from  his  side  by  those 
who  mocked  his  breaking  heart ;  he  bore  upon  his  back 
the  scars  and  ridges  of  a  master's  lash.  Now  he  came 
into  a  court  of  justice  to  settle,  by  the  testimony  of  his 
black  lips,  a  controversy  between  white  men.  When 
asked  his  age  he  drew  himself  proudly  up  and  said: 
Tor  fifty  years  I  was  a  chattel.  On  the  first  day  of 
January,  1863,  old  Uncle  Abe  made  me  a  man.* 

^*  The  act  which  set  that  old  man  free  was  the  crown- 
ing glory  of  Lincoln's  Hfe,  for  by  it  he  not  only  saved 
his  coimtry,  but  emancipated  a  race.  When  Abraham 
Lincoln  took  his  pen  to  sign  the  Emancipation  Procla- 
mation he  knew  that  the  supreme  moment  had  come. 


110  Best  Lincoln  Stones 

He  had  known  it  years  before,  when  he  said:  *A  house 
divided  against  itself  cannot  stand.  I  beHeve  that 
this  government  cannot  exist  permanently,  half  slave 
and  half  free,  but  I  do  not  expect  this  house  to  fall,  this 
government  to  be  dissolved.* 

"God  has  always  raised  up  a  great  leader  for  a 
great  crisis.  Moses,  initiated  into  the  sublime  mys- 
teries of  the  house  of  Pharaoh,  himself  a  ruler  and  al- 
most a  king,  led  the  children  of  Israel  through  the 
parted  waters  of  the  Red  Seas  into  the  wilderness  in 
the  strange  hope  of  a  deliverance.  A  shepherdess  on 
the  hills  of  France  felt  herself  stirred  at  the  sore  trials 
of  her  race.  Joan  d'Arc,  the  savior  of  her  country, 
was  the  instrument  of  God. 

*'Who  can  doubt  that  Providence  put  the  prepos- 
terous notion  of  a  rotmd  world  into  the  head  of  the 
Genoese  sailor?  Who  can  doubt  that  Providence 
designed  Christopher  Columbus,  George  Washington, 
Abraham  Lincoln  and  Ulysses  S.  Grant  each  for  his 
own  mission?  The  Declaration  of  Independence  was 
the  Genesis  of  American  Hberty,  but  the  gospel  of  its 
New  Testament  was  the  Emancipation  Proclamation. 
Until  the  Emancipation  Proclamation  the  tide  of  suc- 
cess set  strongly  against  the  Union  shore.  But  after- 
ward the  soldiers  of  the  Union  marched  steadily  from 
Chattanooga  to  Atlanta  and  from  Atlanta  to  the  sea. 
From  the  time  the  flag  of  Hberty  became  the  flag  of 
freedom  and  the  Stars  and  Stripes  no  longer  floated 
over  slaves,  the  Union  never  wavered  in  its  onward 
march. 


Tersely  Told.  Ill 

"Almost  a  third  of  a  century  has  passed  away. 
Blue  and  gray  they  lie  together  beneath  the  sod.  He- 
roes all,  they  fell  face  to  face,  brother  against  brother. 
But  through  the  mingled  tears  that  fall  ahke  upon  the 
dead  of  both  sections,  the  eyes  of  all  turn  toward  a  new 
future  under  the  old  flag.  To  the  North  and  South, 
to  the  white  and  black,  Abraham  Lincoln  was  God's 
special  providence.  What  is  the  heritage  to  us?  In 
his  own  wonis,  *A  government  of  the  people,  by  the 
people,  and  for  the  people.' 

*'I  wish  that  my  voice  could  reach  from  one  end  of 
the  land  to  the  other  while  I  tell  what  true  Americanism 
is.  I  come  from  a  State  that  has  as  great  local  neces- 
sities, perhaps,  as  any  other.  The  State  of  Nebraska 
put  one  star  into  the  flag.  The  great  State  of  New 
York  put  another.  But  when  they  set  them  there, 
they  ceased  to  shine  for  themselves,  but  for  the  whole 
Union. 

"What  we  need  in  this  country  is  the  Emancipation 
Proclamation  and  the  Stars  and  Stripes  at  every  polling 
place.  We  need  a  revival  of  the  American  flag.  Let 
it  float  over  every  American  battlefield,  be  taught  in 
every  pubHc  school.  Set  the  Stars  of  the  Union  in  the 
hearts  of  our  children  and  the  glory  of  the  Republic 
will  remain  forever.  It  does  not  matter  whether  the 
American  cradle  is  rocked  to  the  music  of  'Yankee 
Doodle'  or  the  lullaby  of  'Dixie'  if  the  flag  of  the  nation 
is  displayed  above  it,  and  the  American  baby  can  be 
safely  trusted  to  pull  about  the  floor  the  rusty  scab- 
bard and  the  battered  canteen,  whether  the  inheritance 
be  from  blue  or  gray,  if  from  the  breast  of  a  true  mother 


112  Best  Lincoln  Stones 

and  the  lips  of  a  brave  father,  its  little  soul  is  filled  with 
the  glory  of  the  American  constellation. 

"The  memory  of  Lincoln  cannot  perish.  On  free- 
dom's roll  of  honor  the  name  of  Lincoln  is  written 
first.  His  colossal  statue  stands  on  a  pedestal  of  the 
people's  love,  and  in  its  protecting  shadow,  liberty  and 
equality  are  the  heritage  of  every  American  citizen." 

Lincoln  Analyzed. 

There  is  something  in  Washington  or  in  Lincoln  or 
Grant,  that  defies  analysis.  It  is  a  moral  elevation, 
a  magnanimity,  a  nobleness  and  profoundness  of  mind. 
It  is  force  of  character  and  ability  by  which  man  is  able 
to  meet  great  emergencies.     This  is  true  greatness. 

Nothing  discloses  real  character  like  the  use  of 
power.  If  you  wish  to  know  what  a  man  really  is, 
give  him  power.     This  is  the  supreme  test. 

Judged  by  this  standard  Abraham  Lincoln  stands 
out  one  of  the  purest  and  noblest  characters  of  all 
time.  Greatness  was  never  more  unconscious  of  it- 
self than  it  was  in  him.  It  consisted  in  the  fact  that 
he  made  mistakes  but  rose  above  them. 

Lincoln  was  a  man  of  marvelous  growth.  The 
statesman  or  the  military  hero  bom  and  reared  in  a 
log  cabin  is  a  familiar  figure  in  American  history ;  but 
we  may  search  in  vain  among  our  men  of  honor  and 
fame  for  one  whose  origin  and  early  life  equaled  Abra- 
ham Lincoln's  in  obscurity  and  lack  of  education. 

He  sprang  from  the  poorest  class  in  the  border 
south.    Hard  work  his  early  lot;  his  education  a  minus 


Tersely  Told.  113 

factor.  In  the  year  of  his  majority  his  father  moved 
to  IlHnois.  Here  Lincoln  began  for  himself  the  hard 
battle  of  life.  He  became  an  ambitious  young  man. 
Unquestionably  in  some  mysterious  way,  he  arrived 
at  the  conclusion  that  this  world  had  something  far 
higher  for  him  than  neighborhood  joker,  champion 
wrestler  or  prize  wood  chopper. 

A  lawyer  lent  him  a  copy  of  Blackstone  and  he 
commenced  the  study  of  law;  was  admitted  to  the  bar 
in  1836;  rose  rapidly  in  his  profession  and  became  an 
eminent  lawyer.  Being  more  adapted  to  the  part  of 
a  jurist  than  an  advocate,  owing  to  the  striking  up- 
rightness of  his  character,  he  applied  himself  to  this 
branch  of  his  profession,  and  it  may  truly  be  said  that 
his  vivid  sense  of  truth  and  justice  had  much  to  do  with 
his  effectiveness  as  a  jurist.  When  he  felt  himself 
to  be  the  protector  of  innocence,  the  defender  of  justice, 
or  the  prosecutor  of  wrong,  he  frequently  disclosed 
such  imexpected  resources  of  reasoning,  such  depth  of 
feeling,  and  rose  to  such  fervor  of  appeal  as  to  astonish 
and  overw^helm  his  hearers,  and  make  his  appeal  irre- 
sistible. 

He  continued  to  ''ride  the  circuit, "  read  books,  tell 
funny  stories  to  his  fellow  lawyers  in  the  tavern,  chat 
familiarly  with  his  neighbors  and  become  more  and 
more  widely  known,  trusted  and  beloved  among  the 
people  of  his  State  for  his  ability  as  a  lawyer  and  poli- 
tician, for  the  integrity  of  his  character  and  the  ever- 
flowing  spring  of  sympathetic  kindness  in  his  heart. 
His  mJn  ambition  was  that  of  political  distinction, 
yet  no  one,  at  that  time,  would  have  suspected  that 


11-i  Best  Lincoln  Stories 

he  was  the  man  destined  to  lead  the  nation  through  the 
the  greatest  crisis  of  the  century. 

Nevertheless,  he  was  growing,  indeed,  this  is  one 
prominent  fact  in  Lincoln's  life — he  never  ceased 
growing.  As  captain  in  the  Black  Hawk  war,  as  candi- 
date for  the  legislature,  as  storekeeper,  postmaster, 
surveyor  and  law  student,  he  was  always  growing. 

In  1846,  he  was  elected  to  congress  where  he  dis- 
tinguished himself  as  a  humorous  speaker  and  rapidly 
advanced  to  the  front  as  a  statesman. 

Lincoln  was  a  statesman  in  the  truest  and  grand 3st 
sense  of  the  word.  He  was  a  type  of  honesty  and 
moral  integrity.  He  had  a  conscience  *'void  of  offense 
toward  God,  and  toward  men. "  A  lover  of  the  truth 
and  men  learned  to  trust  him.  He  was  just  and  foi 
that  reason  would  not  put  upon  others  that  which  he 
would  not  put  upon  himself.  He  studied  the  questions 
of  the  day  and  founded  his  opinions  on  truth  and 
justice. 

It  was  not  imtil  1854,  when  the  slavery  question 
had  been  thrust  into  poHtics  as  the  paramount  issue, 
that  Lincoln's  powers  were  aroused  to  their  fullest 
capacity.  He  plunged  into  arduous  study  of  the  ques- 
tion, in  its  legal,  historical  and  moral  aspects,  imtil 
his  mind  became  a  complete  arsenal  of  argument. 

Now  he  was  able  to  cope  with  any  poHtical  antag- 
onist. The  time  had  come  when  the  republican  party 
required  a  man  to  put  for^vard  as  their  standard  bearei 
one  who  would  be  equal  for  the  coming  election. 

They  found  in  Lincoln  all  the  antecedents  of  his 
life  to  be  such  as  to  produce  in  him  the  rarest  qualifica- 


Tersely  Told.  115 

tions  for  the  Presidency,  to  which  he  was  now  called 
by  his  party.  It  was  during  this  canvass  that  he  first 
revealed,  in  his  great  debates  with  Stephen  A.  Douglas, 
the  full  scope  of  his  originality  and  genius.  Subse- 
quent to  this  combat  of  giants,  he  was  duly  elected 
President. 

No  President,  before  or  since,  ever  took  his  seat 
under  such  difficulties.  The  situation  which  confronted 
him  was  appalHng;  secession  of  the  Southern  States 
was  fully  organized,  and  less  than  a  month  before  his 
inauguration  seven  of  them  had  already  seceded. 

During  his  inaugural  address,  he  declared  his  fixed 
purpose  to  uphold  the  Constitution  and  preserve  the 
integrity  of  the  Union.  It  was  his  policy  to  ignore  the 
action  of  the  seceded  States  as  a  thing  in  itself  null, 
void  and  of  no  effect. 

Lincoln  was  the  man  whom  Providence  placed  at 
the  head  of  the  nation  in  the  supreme  hour  of  its  destiny. 
When  he  assumed  the  reins  of  government  he  was  sur- 
roimded  by  traitors.  The  government  was  without 
army,  without  navy,  without  credit.  He  spoke,  and 
two  miUions  of  men  sprang,  as  from  the  ground.  He 
breathed,  and  the  bosom  of  the  ocean  was  covered 
with  ships  of  war.  He  placed  his  hand  upon  Wall 
street  and  the  credit  of  the  government  was  secured. 
He  surroimded  himself  with  the  best  and  truest  coun- 
selors of  the  time. 

He  signed  his  name  and  the  shackles  fell  from  the 
limbs  of  four  million  of  slaves.  His  was  a  greatness  for 
the  time.  He  was  the  Moses  of  a  new  dispensation — 
called  of  God  to  lead  the  hosts  of  captives  out  of  the 


116  Best  Lincoln  Stories 

bondage  house  of  their  oppression.  Like  his  great 
protopype  he  was  not  permitted  to  see  the  land  of 
promise.  He  led  the  people  safely  through,  but  he  was 
not  allowed  to  guide  them  across  the  Jordan. 

On  the  morning  of  April  15,  1865,  God  called  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  away  from  mortal  sight. 

Measured  by  what  he  did  as  a  statesman  and  leader, 
he  stands  head  and  shoulders  above  all  rulers  of  men 
in  the  annals  of  the  six  thousand  years  of  Human  His- 
tory. 

While  a  ''solitary  stripe  remains  in  our  banner," 
while  a  "single  star  is  blazoned  on  its  field  of  blue," 
so  long  will  the  deeds,  the  heroism  and  the  loyalty  of 
Abraham  Lincoln  be  told  to  generations  j^et  unborn. 

The  Religion  of  the  Presidents. 

George  Washington  was  a  communicant  of  the 
Episcopal  Church. 

Thomas  Jefferson  was  a  member  of  no  church. 
He  was  a  Deist. 

John  Adams  was  a  Unitarian. 

James  Madison  was  an  Episcopahan. 

James  Monroe  was  an  Episcopalian. 

John  Quincy  Adams  was  a  Unitarian. 

Andrew  Jackson  became  a  member  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  after  the  death  of  his  wife. 

Martin  Van  Buren  regularly  attended  the  Dutch 
Reformed  Church  at  Kinderhook,  N.  Y.,  but  was  not 
a  member. 

WilHam  Henry  Harrison  was  a  communicant  in  the 
Episcopal  Church.     His  pew  in  Christ  Church,  Cleve- 


Tersely  Told.  117 

land,  Ohio,  bore  his  silver  plate  for  years  after  his 
death. 

John  Tyler  was  a  member  of  the  Episcopal  Church. 

James  K.  Polk  never  united  with  any  denomination. 
While  he  was  President  he  attended  the  Presbyterian 
Church  out  of  deference  to  his  wife's  wishes.  On  his 
death-bed  he  was  baptized  by  a  Methodist  preacher, 
an  old  friend  and  neighbor. 

Zachary  Taylor  was  an  attendant  of  the  Episcopal 
Church  and  is  said  to  have  been  a  member. 

Millard  Fillmore  was  a  Unitarian. 

FrankHn  Pierce  was  a  Trinitarian  Congregation- 
alist. 

James  Buchanan  was  a  Presbyterian. 

Andrew  Johnson  was  not  a  member,  but  attended 
the  Presbyterian  Church. 

Abraham  Lincoln  belonged  to  no  church,  but 
usually  attended  the  Presbyterian  services. 

Ulysses  S.  Grant  attended  the  Methodist  Church, 
but  was  not  a  member. 

Rutherford  B.  Hayes  was  a  Methodist. 

Jamics  A.  Garfield  was  a  member  of  the  Church 
of  the  Disciples. 

Chester  A.  Arthtu:  was  an  EpiscopaHan. 

Grover  Cleveland  joined  the  Presbyterian  Church 
after  his  marriage. 

Benjamin  Harrison  v/as  a  member  of  the  Presby- 
treian  Church. 

WiUiam  McKinley  was  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Church. 

Theodore  Roosevelt  is  a  member  of  the  Episcopalian 
Church. 


